End of Days
by zephyrocity
Summary: Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me. An in-depth novelisation of Persona 3. On hold.
1. i: my ghostly shadow

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.  
**Notes:** Hey, all. I hope you'll like this! First things first, though: even though I'm writing a novelisation of a game that takes place in modern-day Japan, that doesn't mean they will be calling each other "Shinjiro-senpai" and "Yuka-tan" as they did in game—that, friends, is fangirl Japanese, and it drove me crazy (but made me laugh).**  
Thanks to:** the ridiculous amount of betas I have for this.

* * *

_End of Days_

**i: ****my ghostly shadow** **( april, part one )**

* * *

_Time never waits._

_It delivers all equally to the same end._

_You, who wish to safeguard the future,_

_however limited it may be…_

_You will be given one year;_

_go forth without falter,_

_with your heart as your guide…_

**April 6****th****, 2009.**

Unnoticed, a young man—tall, with dark eyes and hair the colour of crushed blue velvet—wove through the crowded streets, both hands shoved in his pockets. The chatter around him blended in with the traffic and enticing offers of the giant television screen above his head; all went unheard as he stared at the pavement at his feet and tuned into the music blaring in his ears.

Like it was very far away, he heard several obnoxious popping noises; he didn't have to look around to know that there was an idiot hacking at a shooting game in the nearby arcade. Rolling his eyes at his MP3 player, he turned up the volume as loud as it would go.

_Dreamless dorm ticking clock  
I walk away from the soundless room_

Not so far away, water gushed thickly from a tap twisted all the way up; close by, and slumped against a marble-topped counter, a brown-haired young woman was curled up on the floor, weeping, one hand pressed to her eyes to staunch the flow of tears. Her fingers clenched around the sleek coolness of the metal encased in her grasp.

The boy continued to walk, oblivious; he ducked by a man screaming angrily into his mobile and past several children wielding giant backpacks. Ugly, mean-looking key chains peppered the front of the rucksacks, with huge eyes that glared up at the young man as he passed quietly by.

_Windless night moonlight melts  
My ghostly shadow to the lukewarm gloom_

The girl stifled a sob and leaned back, listening to the soft _plink-plink_ of the water, coming slowly now, as it dripped into the sink. She gripped the steel, dragging her nails along the trigger, and lifted the pistol into the air.

As he stopped at a busy intersection, the boy couldn't help but stare at a grinning man, sporting an afro and holding the leashes of several drooling dogs, on the other side of the road. He fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot and absently running his hand along the length of his MP3 player, as he waited for the lights to turn green. They did, eventually, and he hurried across the zebra crossing, just sidestepping the barking canines.

The pale brunette struggled to keep her breath steady as she raised the gun to her temple. All she could hear was her heartbeat, and, faintly—music.

_Nightly dance of bleeding swords  
Reminds me that I still live_

For a moment, amidst the pounding of the water against the countertop above her and the barely-there music that wasn't actually playing, she thought she heard the screeching of metal spokes against tracks—the trains.

She shut her eyes against her fears and pressed the barrel of the gun to her forehead. Her slender, shaking fingers pulled at the trigger—

The boy blinked up at a blank window as he walked down the emptying road. Shrugging off the weird chill running up and down his spine, he hiked his bag further onto his shoulder and ducked his head, turning his music down a little.

_I will burn my dread  
I once ran away from the god of fear  
And he chained me to despair_

Her hand fell, useless, and the girl leaned back and sobbed, quietly, in the darkness of the bathroom.

* * *

"Attention, passengers. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused by the delay. Next stop is—"

_Cold touch of my trembling gun  
I close my eyes to hear you breathe_

"—Iwatodai."

The boy looked up with a start, pulling his headphones off of his head and slinging them around his neck. He bent for the bag that rested by his feet, and nodded at the few people still riding the trains this late at night.

"Iwatodai. Iwatodai," a woman repeated over the intercom as he stepped off the juddering subway and onto solid ground. Above him, a clock with a green face _tick-tock_ed slowly towards midnight, less than a minute away. "This is the final stop for Tatsumi Port Island. Please make sure you board in time for departure…"

He let her voice fade into the background as he fitted his headset into place. His attention wholly on relocating his favourite song, the young man moved slowly across the once-familiar, empty station.

_I will burn my dread  
This time I'll grapple down that god of—_

Bewildered, he stared down at his now blank MP3 player. He went to shake it, wondering if the batteries had died, when behind him, the lights went out, and the nearby ticket machines went dark. The young man tensed, swallowing hard as he brushed his dark hair from his eyes and peered up at the large skylight overhead. The moon, eerily close to being full, provided a dim gleam that guided his way out of the deserted station. With a fearful shudder, he wondered why there weren't more people around.

As the revolving door to the massive building slowly shut behind him, a trail of red slid down the clock's face, frozen at midnight, and dripped to the floor.

The streets were empty, and slick with a scarlet substance that he didn't want to identify. He held up the map before him with shaking hands, purposefully keeping his eyes off the moon—he'd seen it crimson, as a child, but never green.

With his eyes fixed to the paper in front of him, he hurried across roads that cars should have been flying down, and wormed his way around tall monoliths that hadn't been there ten years ago. He wondered if it was some sort of statement, made by a small-time artist hoping to get famous.

_But did they have to look so much like coffins?_ the boy thought as he stole a glance at the casket-like statues.

Finally, he came to a stop in front of his destination, making a face as one of his new shoes sunk into something sticky with a wet, squelching sound. After ripping his foot free and shaking it out, sending dark droplets flying everywhere, he pulled himself up the stoop and into the brick building.

It was much friendlier inside than out in the cold, he discovered, staring around at the carpeted lounge. There was a TV across the room, and beyond a glass partition behind it, he saw a cosy-looking dining room. The set of couches to his right were devoid of people—but it was past midnight, and of course his new roommates would have gone to bed by now.

_Still,_ he thought as he put his bag down and took another step inside,_ it would've been nice for them to wait up for me._ Letting out a sigh, the blue-haired boy shrugged his shoulders and removed his headphones.

"You're late."

He jumped and whirled around, his dead MP3 player slipping from his fingers. He grabbed at it, managed to catch it just before it hit the floor, and turned to the desk to his right.

"I've been waiting a long time for you."

A child sat behind the counter, his chin in his hands. He shook his head softly, smiling too gently, too kindly, and snapped his fingers, ruffling his black and white striped sleeves. His bright eyes—a startling shade of robin's egg blue—glittered in the dimness of the room. "Now, if you want to proceed," he gestured to a leather-bound book on the desk, which flipped open seemingly at his command, "please sign your name there. It's a contract." His constant smile wasn't reassuring in the slightest. "Don't worry. All it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions."

The young man moved towards the tome hesitantly, and the child's grin grew wider.

"You know," he continued, dismissively, "the usual stuff."

The blue-haired boy bent over the open book and reluctantly scrawled his name in the space provided. _Arisato Minato,_ it read, though it came out nearly illegible, as he'd had his eyes on the beaming kid the entire time. He did nothing but smile unassumingly and wait.

Once he was finished, the child all but snatched the book from Minato's hands and stepped back, clutching it close to his chest. "No one," he told his new friend, "can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end." Still grinning, he raised the contract to eye level, spinning it in his narrow fingers. It vanished with the faint echo of bells, rattling together in a place far from Port Island. "You can't cover your ears and close your eyes." The shadows in the room seemed to close around him, cloaking him in darkness, as the child retreated with one last whisper:

"And so it begins."

Minato, left alone in the parlour, took an uneasy step back._ What was that?_ he wondered, swaying on unsteady legs.

"Who's there?"

Absolutely taken aback by this second interruption, he spun around once more; this time, a light brown-haired girl glared at him from a dark corner of the nearby hallway. She was wearing a school uniform with a pink sweater pulled over it, and her eyes glistened like moonlight. Nervously, he followed her gaze as it flitted from him to somewhere on her person.

Her hand hovered above a gun strapped to her thigh, just above the hem of her skirt.

His mouth dropping open in horrified disbelief, he fell back, fear quickly drowning out his confusion, as she clutched for the pistol and tore it from its holster.

"Takeba, wait!"

The girl whirled around with a gasp at the sudden cry; as she did so, all the lights flickered on again, flooding the lounge with radiance, and another young woman—this one with long scarlet hair that cascaded down her back in an unruly, bloody waterfall, and a warning in her dark eyes—stepped from the shadows. The brunette lowered her weapon at once. At the same time, Minato scrabbled for his MP3 player as it suddenly began to work again, and his favourite song blared from the headphones resting at his shoulders. He turned it off as quietly and inconspicuously as he could while the girl in the pink sweater relaxed and scrunched her face into a smile.

After speaking in a hushed, angry tone to her now nervous companion, the tall redhead turned and nodded at him. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late," she said, as if nothing had happened.

He blinked at her.

"My name is Kirijo Mitsuru," she continued. "I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."

The other girl shot her a miserable glance. "Who's he?" she asked, clearly not giving one iota that Minato was standing right there, in full earshot.

"He's a transfer student," Mitsuru said, turning away from the boy in question. "It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm."

The young lady in pink still seemed uncomfortable, and her hand fluttered around her thigh; Minato guessed her gun had been shoved back into its holster when Mitsuru stormed in. "Is it okay for him to be here?"

The redhead offered a small smile. "I guess we'll see." Then, turning back to the blue-haired boy and gesturing to the brunette, she said, "This is Takeba Yukari. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you." This was said with that same smile on her face, but there was no warmth in her dark eyes.

Yukari dipped in a quick bow, clamping her hands firmly together to keep them from fidgeting, though her shining eyes betrayed her nervousness. "Hey."

Minato nodded back. "Nice to meet you," he mumbled awkwardly. After a moment of hesitation, he motioned weakly to the young woman's skirt and asked, "What was with the gun?"

She turned the same colour as her pullover. "H-huh?" Yukari said, turning to stare up at Mitsuru for a moment—a silent plea for help. Upon receiving none, she moved to pick at imaginary lint on her sleeves and muttered, "Um, well, it's sort of like a hobby." Quickly, she seemed to realise how odd that sounded, and added, "Well, not a _hobby_, but…"

"You know how it is these days," the red-haired girl cut in finally. "It's for self-defence. It's not a real gun, of course." She shook her head, forcing out a chuckle, and jabbed at the stairs with one jewelled fingertip. "It's late, so you should get some rest," she said pointedly, nudging the brunette, who was quick to get the hint. "Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there."

"Oh… I'll show you the way." Yukari started down the corridor, beckoning. "Follow me."

Minato hefted his bag over his shoulder and followed his new dorm mate up the stairs without a word. She seemed to go from desperate to talk and lighten up the mood one second, to dreading conversation the next. They ended up walking up the stairs in a silence that was only broken when the pair reached the end of the hall, and Yukari said cheerfully, "This is it." She let out a nervous giggle. "Pretty easy to remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall." She bobbed on her toes for a moment, trying to think on something interesting to say. What she ultimately settled on wasn't her best choice. "Oh yeah—make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it. So, any questions?"

Minato couldn't help himself. "Does that kid live here, too?" he said, despite his doubts.

A totally bewildered Yukari shook her head. "What kid?" she asked, carefully. He stared back at her impassively, and she shot a nervous look over her shoulder. "What are you talking about? C'mon, it's not funny."

The young man shrugged his shoulders and made to move past her and into his room. "Forget it," he began, but her hand on his arm stopped him short.

"Um, can I ask you something?" she whispered, clutching a little too tightly at his coat. Minato bit back his questions and motioned for her to continue. She did, but only after glancing down the hall once more. "On your way here from the station, was everything… okay?"

The blue-haired boy raised his eyebrows and stepped out of her grip. "What do you mean?"

Yukari looked vastly uncomfortable as she looked between her hand and his sleeve, scrunched from where she'd grabbed him, as if her very limb had betrayed her. "You know what I—" she started, but then bit her lip. "Never mind." She smiled, blindingly, and added, "It seems like you're all right. I'd better get going."

Hurriedly, she moved past him, only to stop a little ways down the hall. With her back turned to him, she said, softly, "Um, I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay?" She turned to smile at him, again, and then vanished into the shadowy hallway with one last, "Good night!"

Minato watched her go, listening to her clip down the stairs as he picked up his bag. With a confused shake of his head, he moved into his new and pitifully bare room, knowing he'd be up half the night trying to figure out what had happened that day.

**April 7****th****, 2009.**

Minato was standing at his mirror, juggling fixing his hair and unpacking the last of his toiletries, when several sharp, short knocks resounded on the door, and a voice called from outside, "It's Yukari. Are you awake?"

The dark-haired young man resisted the urge to ignore her, and went to the door, brush still in hand. The moment he opened it, she bustled inside and said, cheerfully, "Good morning! Did you sleep okay?" Without giving him time to answer, she continued, "Mitsuru asked me to take you to school. It's getting late, so…" She took in his mussed appearance and had the grace to flush. "Are you ready to go?"

He ran a few fingers through his navy locks and assented despite the knots in it. She seemed pleased and chirped, "Okay! Then, let's go."

Chattering all the way, she led him to Iwatodai Station, just a few streets down from the dorms. They hopped on the first train heading over to Port Island, and rode in silence until they passed a triangular glass building. It was then that Yukari leapt to her feet and dragged Minato with her, pointing eagerly out the window. "So, that's it," she said excitedly, as he grappled for a handhold. "See? There it is."

After finally catching his balance, the young man looked up. His grey eyes widened, and he let out an amazed, "Huh?"

Once they arrived, Minato silently allowed Yukari to lead him off the train and down the many glittering white steps that led to the extraordinary building that stretched to the sky before them. He barely heard as, beside him, the brunette smiled and waved at people passing by, occasionally offering a sweet, "Good morning!" It was only when she stopped at the school gate and turned to him with a broad grin on her pretty face that he finally jerked out of his trance. "Well?" she said, giggling at his wonder. "This is it—we're here! Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. I hope you like it."

He didn't know what to say. The massive pearly edifice was fancier than any school he'd ever been too—and much bigger, too. A massive observatory watched from one corner, while classrooms on several stories stretched outwards in the other direction.

Still a loss for words, Minato followed her into the building. While he took off his shoes, Yukari took a quick look around and said, "You're okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first." Nodding towards an archway, she continued, "The Faculty Office is right there to the left." She looked around, smiling wanly at the older woman behind the snack bar, and reached down to tug off her own shoes. "And that concludes the tour!" With a grunt, she pulled her feet free and slipped on her slippers as she straightened up once more. "Do you have any questions before I go?"

Minato shrugged. "No, not really."

He felt her stiffening above him, and glanced up curiously. The brunette suddenly looked nervous, the cheer from earlier having vanished. "Hey," she said, in a hushed tone, "about last night… don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?" The smile reappeared on her face, and suddenly she sang, "See you later!" and dashed off before he could ask any questions.

_What I saw?_ he thought to himself as he made his way slowly towards the Faculty Office. _She doesn't mean… the coffins?_ He shuddered at the memory as he pushed what he hoped what was the right door open.

No sooner had he stepped inside than a woman in a peach-coloured suit strode over, clutching a clipboard to her chest. "Oh, are you the new student?" she said, brushing a lock of her short brown hair behind one ear. He nodded his head wordlessly, and she glanced down at her papers. "Arisato Minato… eleventh grade, correct?" Her eyebrows soared up into her hair as she read on. "Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places. Hm, let's see… in 1999, that was, what? Ten years ago? Your parents—"

A deeply apologetic expression shattered the teacher's emotionless mask, and she looked up with a start. "I'm sorry," she said honestly. "I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand." She held out a hand for him to shake. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

He half-heartedly met her handshake, forcing a smile for her sake. "Nice to meet you," he said weakly.

She smiled warmly, and he knew she'd been fooled. "Wow, such enthusiasm!" Ms. Toriumi said with a little laugh. "Now, have you seen the classroom assignments? You're in 2-F; that's my class." A quick glance at her watch landed a hand on his back as she steered him firmly towards the door. "But first, we need to go the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me."

* * *

"As you begin the new school year," the elderly principal preached from his podium, "I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' When applied to student life, this means…"

Even though the ceremony had barely been going on two minutes, Minato was already bored to tears. Desperate, he reached into his bag for his trusty headphones and MP3 player, clapping one hand over his mouth to muffle a yawn as he did so. There were so many students in the massive theatre that he was sure no one would notice him listening. He had just retrieved them when there was a sharp pat on his shoulder from behind.

"Hey," a voice hissed, and Minato turned to see a boy with cropped black hair waving at him. "You came to school with Yukari this morning, right?"

The blue-haired boy shrugged his shoulders, and couldn't help but wonder why the young man thought it was any of his business.

The classmate was undeterred by Minato's unwilling attitude, and instead persisted, "I saw you two walking together. Hey, I have a question." An excited smirk spread over the junior's face. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"

Minato shrugged, wholly uninterested. "I don't know," he answered blandly.

The boy fell back, disappointment clear in his movements. "I see," he mused. "I thought you might know, but… I guess not." Suddenly, he leaned forward again, nudging at the new student's back. "So, how well do you know her?"

Displeased by his classmate's insinuations, Minato turned back to the front just as the teacher from another class chimed in with, "I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Ms. Toriumi's class…"

At the front, the teacher in question stood up and gestured angrily for her students to settle down. The bothersome boy lurched back in his seat before she could see him. "Shh!" she snapped. "Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"

The rest of the day passed in a blur of long hallways that all looked the same, and faceless teachers that said the same thing over and over again. Minato lost count of the times he got lost in Gekkoukan's winding corridors, and barely managed to get back to his homeroom before for the last bell rang. Exhausted, he sat slumped at his desk—practically front and centre, exactly where he didn't want to be—and groped in his bag for his music. He had just found his MP3 player and was making towards the exit when he was intercepted by an unfamiliar face.

"'Sup, dude?" said the newcomer, a tall young man sporting a baseball cap and an unshaven chin. "How's it goin'?"

Minato didn't crack a smile. "What do you want?"

The boy frowned. "Oh, come _on_," he exclaimed dramatically. "At least let me introduce myself!" Minato didn't make any move to leave, which his strange classmate took as a good sign. "I'm Iori Junpei. Nice to meet you!" Grinning, he added, with a proud puff of the chest, "I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid, so I wanted to say, 'hey!' See what a nice guy I am?"

At that moment, a familiar brunette in a bright pink sweater wandered over. Junpei's smile grew even wider at the sight of her, and he tipped his hat in her direction. "Hey, it's Yuka!" She scowled at the nickname, and he offered her an exaggerated wink. "I didn't think we'd be in the same class again."

Yukari sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "At it again, huh?" she said, sticking her nose in the air. "I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

Junpei adopted a wounded look, flinging a hand over his heart. "What?" he said, and real incredulity rang in his tone. "But I was just bein' friendly!"

The young woman hid a smile and said lightly, "If you say so." She turned to Minato, beaming. "Anyway," she continued, pointedly drowning out Junpei's protests, "it looks like we're in the same homeroom."

The blue-haired boy nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Yukari let out a little giggle. "Funny, huh?" she said, even though it wasn't.

Forgotten in light of their conversation, the exasperated Junpei threw up his hands. "Um, hello?" he said, only half joking. "Are you forgetting that I'm in this class, too?" Suddenly, however, he seemed to remember something, and a wide smirk spread across his stubbly face. "By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning. What's up with that? C'mon, gimme the dirt!"

Minato, still unsure of whether or not he liked this loud new classmate of his, couldn't suppress a smile as, beside him, Yukari began to turn the same shade of pink as her sweater.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" she snapped, agitated. "We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay?" Nervous, she shot a surreptitious glance over her shoulder at a collection of girls that stood chattering in a huddle behind her, and rubbed at her temples tiredly. "Why are people even talking about it? Now you've got me worried."

She shook her head dismissively and leaned close to Minato, unaware of how every move she made was making the gossip worse. "Hey," she whispered under her breath, "you didn't say anything to anyone about… you know what, did you?"

Minato felt Junpei perk up beside him and rolled his eyes, shaking his head no.

Yukari leaned back, relieved. "Okay, good," she said. "Seriously," she added, just for good measure, "don't say _anything_ about last night, all right?"

Junpei jerked back, like he'd been hit, his eyes widening to the size of veritable dinner plates as his eyebrows disappeared underneath the lip of his cap. The brunette turned to stare at him, nervous again. "Wh-what?" she mumbled.

And the young man exclaimed, in a much louder voice than was absolutely necessary, "L-last night?"

Yukari's face had surpassed her pullover by now, and had progressed to a colour that greatly resembled the crimson ribbon tied to her collar. "W-wait a minute!" she gasped, horrified at her slip. "Don't get the wrong idea! _Listen_!" she insisted, when Junpei made no move to pay any attention to her. "I just met him _yesterday_, and there's absolutely nothing between us!"

Even Minato was starting to redden at her outburst. He weakly tried to mollify her, but she would have none of it.

"Geez," Yukari huffed, turning away. "I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But you better not start any rumours!" With that, she flounced out; one could practically see the steam spouting from her ears as she slammed the door closed behind her.

"Ah, who cares?" Junpei sighed when she was gone. "No one takes rumours seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid." He let out a laugh and adjusted his hat, pulling it low on his forehead. "But, hey! It's your first day here, and people are already talkin' about you!" With a snort, he clapped Minato on the back. "Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular."

Grinning, Junpei threw his arms up, locking them together behind his head. "Heh, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!"

* * *

Minato flopped into bed the moment he got home, with Yukari soon to follow. Soon only Mitsuru was left in the lounge, curled up on the couch with a book in her hands and a cup of hot cocoa on the table.

She wasn't alone long before a tall and confident-looking young man with a head of short silvery hair came down the stairs to join her, his jacket slung over his shoulder. "I'm going out for a bit," he told her shortly.

Mitsuru reluctantly closed her book and looked up. "Hm?" she asked.

The boy gestured to the sheaf of paper on the coffee table. "Didn't you see the newspaper?" he asked, unable to keep a hint of excitement out of his voice. "There's a lot going on."

The redhead bit back a sigh. "I know," she murmured, reaching for her mug of hot chocolate and taking a tiny, tentative sip. "People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome. I've seen it in the news quite often lately. They say it's due to stress, but…"

"Yeah, right," the pale-haired young man snorted, triumph glittering in his dark gaze. "It has to be _them_. Otherwise, it's not worth my time."

Mitsuru rolled her eyes and sat back as her friend strode past. "_You_," she said accusatorily, "have a one-track mind. Will you be okay on your own? The Chairman will be here for the next few days, but after that, I can—"

"Don't worry," he exclaimed dismissively, already halfway to the door as he pulled on a pair of gleaming boxing gloves. "I'm just getting a little practise."

Mitsuru sighed heavily and picked up her book again. "This isn't a game, Akihiko," she snapped as the door shut behind him.


	2. ii: lukewarm gloom

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.  
**Notes:** Hey! This took a little longer than expected to get up, so in return you're landed with an extra long chapter.

* * *

**ii: lukewarm gloom ( april, part two )**

* * *

**April 8****th****, 2009.**

Minato, having overslept, had to find his own way to Gekkoukan High, as Yukari had already left by the time he got up. He was barely off the train and down the steps when he heard a pair of girls gossiping excitedly next to him.

"Did you hear the rumour?" the shorter of the two hissed, huddled with her friend under a blooming cherry blossom tree near the school gate.

The other, sporting a large white bag, frowned in concentration. "Oh, um," she said, uncertainly, "something about… a bathroom?"

The small one went red. "N-no!" she snapped, looking around furtively to check if anyone had overheard. "Not _that_ one! I mean the story about the first-year student!" She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day! If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, 'It's coming! It's coming!'"

"Huh," her friend said blandly, because this rumour was obviously much less interesting than the one about the bathroom. "How about that."

The short girl scowled. "You don't believe me?"

Just then, the first bell rang, and Minato realised he'd been standing like an idiot for the past minute, just listening to the two students chatter. He quickly kicked himself into a trot and ran for the school.

His classes breezed by for the most part—well, aside from his Composition class in the afternoon, when Ms. Toriumi grilled Junpei after catching him not paying attention. Thankfully, the blue-haired boy had jumped in to save the day, and now he was high up in Junpei's good books.

The class clown had insisted on walking home with him until they were forced to part ways at the dorm; when Minato vanished inside, a little relieved, he found Yukari deep in conversation with an older man that he hadn't seen before—very friendly-looking, with long hair and a brown suit, all smiles.

"Oh," the young woman said when Minato shut the door behind himself, "he's back."

"So, this is our new guest," the sophisticated gentleman said with a broad grin, standing up to meet Minato halfway and give him a hearty handshake. "Good evening! My name is Ikutsuki Shuji. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school."

Minato allowed his hand to be pumped up and down as he wondered, dimly, what the excitable man was doing here. He was only half-listening as the Chairman continued with a chuckle, "'Ikutsuki'… hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes!" Still smiling, he turned and gestured to the couch animatedly. "Please, have a seat."

Minato followed him back to the couch and found a spot next to Yukari. Before he had a chance to say anything, Ikutsuki was off again. "I apologise about the confusion regarding your accommodations," he said seriously. "However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment. Now, is there anything you'd like to ask me?"

The young man couldn't help himself. "Why are you here?"

Ikutsuki beamed. "To welcome you, of course!" Pause. "Well, to be honest, I do have other business here. Speaking of which, where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs," the brunette replied at once.

The older man adjusted his glasses and sighed. "As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello…" He turned back to Minato. "Is there anything else?" The student shook his head no, and the Chairman nodded his head with yet another dazzling smile. "Then, I hope you have a successful school year. If you'll excuse me…" He got up to leave, but stopped by Minato's side of the couch. Reaching out to pat the boy brusquely on the shoulder, he added, "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!'"

Minato blinked up at him, unsure of what to say. Ikutsuki ducked his head at this and offered, "Please forgive the bad pun."

Once he was gone, the blue-haired young man turned to Yukari sceptically. She sighed, shrugged—the Chairman was clearly a lost cause—and said, "You'll get used to his lame jokes."

* * *

"Working hard?"

Ikutsuki quietly shut the door behind him and walked into the middle of the Command Room. As expected, Mitsuru and Yukari sat before the computer. Its massive screens took up a good chunk of the wall. One small square in the upper left hand corner showed a fuzzy image of Minato, fast asleep in his bed.

"So, how's he doing?" the Chairman continued lightly, over the buzzing and beeping and clacking as Mitsuru typed furiously on the keyboard.

"He went to bed a little while ago," she said, standing. Yukari echoed her movement and leapt to her feet. "He's asleep now." She shook her head, still a little incredulous, as Ikutsuki took a seat on a nearby pouf. "Mr. Chairman, do you think he's…?"

"Well, let's wait and see for now," he said cheerfully. "The Dark Hour is approaching."

Simultaneously, all three turned to stare at the clock mounted on the wall behind them as it slowly counted down to midnight.

Far from the Iwatodai dorms, several drunken partiers had found their way behind Port Island Station. Obnoxious music boomed from a stereo, and a pair of giggling girls dressed in barely anything at all skirted around a swaying troublemaker, tossing an open can of beer carelessly behind them. It landed at a young man's feet, and he spat out his cigarette in annoyance. "Bitch," he muttered under his breath, flipping his cell open.

"—at the sound of the tone," it told him, "it will be twelve o'clock AM."

He shot to his feet in disgust, bathed in moonlight as the clouds began to thin above his head. He half-listened as his mobile counted down the seconds, punctuating each with a loud beep. _Five, four, three, two,_ he thought, and waited for the flat whine that would tell him it was tomorrow.

It never came.

Instead, the light above him glimmered green, and a steady _plink-plink_ sound pervaded the air, like water dripping to the ground from somewhere up high. "Guys?" The stereo was silent, and his pals weren't shouting or singing or making any noise at all. _Those fuckers,_ he thought._ They left with the whores._

Exasperated, he whirled around—and froze. Where his friends had been joking and laughing and generally getting drunk off their asses, a collection of tall, dark monoliths stood. One towered before him, and the young man staggered back, a gasp falling from his lips in the still air.

He continued to back away from the standing caskets; when a cold, viscous drop of red landed on his shoulder, he made to turn and run—

But then an oily black substance dribbled from one corner of his mouth. A thicker stream curled down his forehead like it had a mind of its own, and he let out a low moan, his grip on the precious blue phone in his hands loosening. The cell clattered to the ground as the ooze welled up and out of his eye like a gigantic tear. His hands flew to his face, tearing at the sticky muck, but it was too late.

Letting out a long, agonised scream, the young man fell to the ground and lay still.

Back at the dorms, Mitsuru blinked at the green tinge that had settled in front of her eyes, knowing it wouldn't go away no matter how many times she rubbed at it. As she turned away from the clock—frozen at midnight—to survey the dark room, she marvelled, as she always did, at how it seemed as if someone had taken a brick from the foundations and tilted the building ever so slightly off-kilter.

"Hm," Ikutsuki said, one hand to his chin, "he's still sleeping." Nodding to himself, he recited, "The Dark Hour occurs every day at twelve midnight; you could say it's the 'hidden' hour. During this time, an ordinary person transmogrifies into a coffin, and is oblivious to all that occurs."

Yukari shot a glance at Minato, dead to the world in his bed. "Then, he must be…"

"As you can see," the Chairman continued, "he's retained his human form. He's asleep, but he's definitely experiencing the Dark Hour. The only question that remains is whether or not he has the potential." He frowned thoughtfully. "Although, he must! If he didn't, they would have preyed on him by now."

The brunette shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "Scary," she mumbled.

Ikutsuki smiled reassuringly and stood, motioning at the screen. Both girls turned to it, and he said, "In any case, we should continue to monitor him for a few more days."

Mitsuru nodded shortly. "Yes, sir."

Yukari shot the redhead a nervous look. "I feel kind of bad, though," she said, and glanced again up at the sleeping Minato, "spying on him like this."

* * *

Through sleepy eyes, Minato thought he saw blue and white chequered tiles and a navy door swinging open as he approached; beyond that entryway, a giant sapphire clock was mounted on a cobalt grate; its golden hands spun at a ridiculous pace. Below the clock, a short man sat in a high-backed couch behind a small table, smiling down his ridiculously long nose at the newcomer. A tall woman—surely not much older than Minato—stood beside him, white-haired and golden-eyed and stony-faced.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man," said the elderly gentleman in the loveseat with a wicked grin.

Slowly, Minato realised he was sitting opposite him, in a chair that was all sharp angles and metal spokes. He shifted uncomfortably as the room—_Some sort of elevator?_ he thought—rose higher and higher; the man with the long nose saw this and smiled widely. His attendant barely batted an eyelash.

"My name is Igor," the old man drawled. "I am _delighted _to make your acquaintance." He motioned to the beautiful woman, reaching over to pat her lightly on the arm with a gloved hand. "This is Elizabeth. She is a resident here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you," she said with a slight smile, and Minato heard the ages of wisdom in her high, kind voice, and knew his assumption about her age had gone rather wide of the mark.

Igor retracted his fingers and folded them together in his lap. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had a guest." With a wave of his hand, a familiar leather-bound book appeared on the table, its red surface standing out in the dark blues and purples of the windowless room. A smile split his wrinkled face. "Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcomed here, in the Velvet Room."

"You are destined to hone your unique ability," the old man continued, "and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return—that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

Minato hesitated. Igor was still grinning at him broadly, but not in a way that made him feel in the least comforted. Elizabeth's commanding stare burning into the top of his head wasn't making him feel any more at ease, either. "I… don't understand," he said, timidly.

"That is fine, for now," Igor said, and held out his bony hand. "Hold on to this."

The blue-haired boy went to get up and fetch whatever the elderly gentleman was offering, but he found himself frozen in place, and something heavy dropped into his pocket. Fishing inside his jacket, he pulled out a silvery key with a blue sheen.

From the table, Igor smiled. "'Till we meet again," he said, and everything went dark.

**April 9****th****, 2009.**

Minato woke up feeling distinctly well rested, but there was an uneasiness in the back of his mind that made him feel like he'd had a strange dream—one that he couldn't remember. He got washed and dressed as quickly as possible, hoping the business of the day would take his mind off of his strange night. Unsurprisingly, Junpei met him at the school gate.

"What's up?" he said with a grin. "Man, today is the perfect day! The sky is blue, we're young—what more could we ask for?"

Minato was unimpressed. "You're full of energy."

"Of course," the young man exclaimed. "Dude, listen to this…" Expectantly, Minato turned down his music and waited to be let in on the big secret, but Junpei promptly shut his mouth. "Oh, wait," he said, still cheerful as ever. "I'm not supposed to say anything. Sorry, man."

Rolling his eyes despite his disappointment, the blue-haired boy turned his MP3 player up and walked into Gekkoukan aside his new friend.

The day passed in a whirl of boring teachers and boring classes—his Classic Literature teacher, Mr. Ekoda, was particularly mind numbing—and before he knew it, Minato was on his way home once more. He was alone, as Junpei had some meet or another to go to, and he found himself surprisingly lonely on the quiet trip back to the dorms.

* * *

Late at night, once the clock had stopped working, the Chairman once again crept up to the Command Room to meet with Mitsuru and Yukari. "How is he?" he asked with a smile, glancing at the sleeping boy.

Mitsuru barely looked up from the computer. "The same as last night."

Surprised, Ikutsuki moved to the pouf he always sat on and murmured, "Hm, very interesting. Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first. Memory loss, disorientation… but this subject is rather unique. He hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms."

Yukari frowned at the Chairman and Mitsuru. "But we're treating him like a guinea pig!" she protested.

"I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members," the older man said firmly, drowning out further exclamations. "I heard he's your classmate. Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?"

"Yeah, I guess," the brunette mumbled half-heartedly. "But still…"

A high pinging noise interrupted her before she could finish, and Mitsuru stopped typing, slammed her hands down on a series of red buttons, and leaned forward. A small microphone rose from the centre of the keyboard and she said into it, "Command Room. Is that you, Akihiko?"

"You're not going to believe this!" a young man's voice panted from the other end of the line. He gasped for breath, and footsteps that must have been his own nearly drowned out his next words. "This thing is _huge_! Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk—it's chasing me. I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there."

Horrified, Yukari shot out of her seat as the connection was cut off abruptly. "Does that mean he's bringing that thing _here_?" she shrieked.

Mitsuru got up as well, turning to Ikutsuki with fire in her eyes. "Mr. Chairman! Let's suspend our observation for now. We'll prepare for battle!"

"R-right!" he stammered, jumping off the pouf and backing up in a hurry. "Be careful!"

There was a loud slam from somewhere downstairs, and Mitsuru made towards the door as fast as her feet would take her, beckoning wildly for the others to follow. They rushed down to the ground floor to see Akihiko, his pale hair dark with blood, shutting the door behind him and slumping to the carpet. He was clutching his torso, and crimson was leaking through his fingers.

"Akihiko!" the redhead called out, rushing to him.

Yukari knelt next to him, peering at his side and head for injuries. Delicately, she pressed her fingers against his ribs; he jerked away from her touch with a low groan, and she cried out in worry.

Scowling, Akihiko pushed her away. "I'm all right," he bit out, and smirked despite himself. "Get ready to be surprised! It'll be here any second."

Mitsuru stalked over, so angry she was shaking. _If he wasn't already injured—!_ she thought, pressing one hand to her temple to calm herself. "This is no time to joke around!" she snapped.

The Chairman stepped forwards reluctantly, not wanting to get in the way of the redhead's rage. "It's one of them, Akihiko?"

The boxer nodded. "Yes, but not an ordinary one—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the dorm shook violently, as if suffering through a massive earthquake. Yukari staggered, screaming, and latched onto the nearby desk for balance. "What the—?" she gasped. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Whipping out a gun, Mitsuru turned to Ikutsuki, completely composed. "Mr. Chairman, please head for the Command Room!" Next was Yukari. "Takeba, go upstairs and wake him up. Then, escape out the back."

The brunette faltered and glanced between the redhead and the boxer uncertainly. "But what about you two?"

"We'll stop it here," Mitsuru said, whirling on Akihiko, her pretty face darkening in a deep scowl. "You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

He shot her a glare and forced himself to his feet. "Like I had a choice!" he growled, and pointed at the stairs. "What are you waiting for, Yukari? Go!"

"I-I'm going!" she stammered, and dashed away.

* * *

White exploded behind his closed eyes as a thunderous crash shook Minato to the core; with a cry, he careened out of his bed and onto the floor. He landed hard on his hands and knees, bit back another yelp, and forced himself to his feet. Shaking out his smarting hands, the young man looked around uncertainly, not knowing whether the loud noise he'd thought he'd heard had been dream or reality.

On his way to the door, he grabbed the jacket that was slung over the side of a nearby chair and pulled it over his pyjamas. Before he could reach the hallway, however, several loud knocks stopped him short, and Yukari shouted from beyond the doorway, "Wake up!" Then, "Sorry, I'm coming in!"

Without further warning, the girl burst through the door, impeccably dressed in her uniform and pink sweater as if she'd never gone to sleep at all. Minato blinked at her in confusion. "I don't have time explain," she babbled at his wondering eyes. "We have to get out of here, now!"

Reaching out in a useless attempt to calm her down, the blue-haired boy said, calmly, "What's going on?"

Just then, another crash shook the building, sending Minato tumbling into a stack of books, and Yukari into several unpacked boxes.

"Hurry," she pleaded, gesticulating wildly as she resurfaced from the crates. Without waiting for affirmation, she grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him out the door. "Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" Halfway into the hallway, she paused. "Wait," she said in a quivering voice, turning back to face Minato. With a choked, scared sob, she pressed something small and cold into his palm. "Take this, just in case."

Bewildered, he glanced down as she pulled away and started down the corridor at a pace he could barely keep up with under normal circumstances. A penknife, gleaming in the dim light, glittered in his hand. A bolt of icy cold shot though the young man, and he suddenly felt rather sick. Just what were they running from?

"Come on," Yukari wailed, and suddenly she was at his side again, clutching and pulling him towards the stairs.

Once at the bottom, they dashed through the lounge and around the bar to the back door, shrouded eerily in shadow that seemed almost unnaturally deep. Minato paused to catch his breath, shaking his aching limbs out a little; the brunette had been holding on so tight that he couldn't help but wonder if she'd done some damage.

"All right," Yukari said breathlessly from beside him, "we should be safe now—"

Before she could go on, a high-pitched _pi pi pi!_ noise cut her short, and she quickly dove into her pocket and pulled out a small cell. She flipped it open to reveal a tiny screen with Mitsuru's worried face staring up from it, and the redhead's voice chimed from the machine's tiny speakers: "Takeba, do you read me?"

Yukari faltered at the blatant horror on the older girl's face, which was normally so composed and stern. "Y-yes," she stammered. "I hear you!"

"Be careful!" Mitsuru exclaimed over a dull, unidentifiable roar in the background. "There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

Yukari stumbled on her shoes and nearly dropped the phone as she staggered against the wall in utter disbelief. "_What_?"

Suddenly, a loud bang behind the pair of unfortunate juniors knocked her from the panelling and succeeded in sending the mobile tumbling to the floor, cutting off their connection with Mitsuru instantly. The screen went dark as Yukari fell all over herself in her haste to pick it up and hurry away with Minato in tow. "L-let's pull back!" she said with a gasp as whatever was behind the door smashed against it once more.

"What are we going to do?" she wailed as they made for the stairs. "They're downstairs! Do we have any choice but to go further up?"

Minato took the lead as the brunette, her eyes brimming with tears, fell back, her legs shuddering and ceasing to work properly as terror tore through her slight body. "Whoa, whoa," she gasped as he took his turn pulling her up the stairs, staggering as the dorm shook again. "What are we going to do?"

He looked questioningly towards the rooms, but knew they were nothing but a dead end. Shrugging, he tugged her up the next two flights, wincing when a crash accompanied by the sound of breaking glass echoed from below. Yukari stopped with a gasp, pulling out of his grasp at once, and hovered by the railing. "What was that?" she whispered, peering down into the darkness. Disgusting squelching sounds echoed from the foot of the stairs so far below, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "It's getting closer," she exclaimed, running back to Minato and swallowing an empty retch. "K-keep moving! Hurry!"

He didn't need to be told twice. While he didn't know what was chasing them, it was obviously big, bad, and dangerous, and what more incentive did he need to run from it?

At the top of the next staircase, they were faced with nothing more but a short dead end, furbished only by an armchair, a dark lamp, and a door.

"O-oh yeah," Yukari hissed, tugging him towards it. "If we go out through here—!" She had pushed Minato through it before he really knew what was going on; next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of the roof, gazing up at the moon overhead. It was ridiculously massive and bright, shining green in the cool night air. The flat plane that stretched out around him was bathed in its harsh light, turning red pools at the corner of his vision to glittering gold.

Behind him, Yukari's sigh as she switched the latch into place reminded him where he was. He turned to see her sag against the door, eyes closed, chest heaving with exertion. "I think we're okay for now," she let out in an exhausted whisper. One slender hand clenched at her shirt directly over her racing heart.

Minato felt the beginnings of a relieved smile start to pull at the corners of his mouth, and opened his mouth to ask several long overdue questions.

He hadn't even started on the first one when a crash from the far side of the roof made the ground beneath his feet shift like water. He stumbled, wheeling his arms widely to keep his balance as the wet squelching they'd heard inside started up again.

Yukari let out a gasp and whirled away from the lock box, releasing it from the hold of her stiff, freezing fingers; she'd grabbed it at the sudden disturbance. Another shudder shook the dorms and nearly sent her to her knees as she stared hopelessly at the edge of the building, fresh tears bleeding down her cheeks. "What?"

Slowly, an oily black hand forced itself over the lip of the roof. It was followed by another, and another, until every bloodstained brick was obscured by a wandering hand as the huge creature struggled to pull itself onto solid ground.

Minato fell back in disbelief, mouth whispering over unspoken pleas; his eyes were gigantic grey holes in his pale face as he shot a look at Yukari. Her pretty face was torn in a mix of desperation, fear, and determination. _This is crazy,_ he thought in a sorry attempt to rationalize. _I'm dreaming. I never actually woke up. This is all some weird dream._

As if from somewhere up high, he watched as the monster pulled itself properly onto the roof. One of the countless shadow-hands held a mask in phosphorescent blue; above the perpetual Cheshire Cat grin and somewhere deep within the empty eyeholes, a violet spark flickered. It looked around for a moment, turning this way and that, until finally it focused on the two hapless students by the door.

It must have been a trick of the light, but the woozy Minato could have sworn that fixed smile widened for a moment. But then all thoughts of its face vanished from his head as short swords, more than he could count, suddenly appeared in the monster's many hands. They gleamed in the moon's light, like sharper, longer versions of the penknife that was still clutched in his fist, as the spectre moved forwards.

"Those monsters," Yukari whispered as she shoved herself in front of him, "we call them Shadows." Her voice was steady for someone whose whole body was shaking like a leaf; she clutched weakly at the gun strapped to her thigh as the creature picked up speed, each blade's tip glittering in a reminder of what awaited them should they fall into its grasp. The brunette pressed the barrel between her eyes and shut them tight, struggling to stay calm, stay sane. Her lids fluttered upwards a moment later: a mistake. She caught sight of the Shadow's fast approach; one black hand flickered outwards, and two columns, blue and white and promising death, spun towards the pair at top speed.

Yukari clenched her eyes shut, shoving Minato back against the wall. The wheeling razor-sharp ribbons barely careened past them, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on the pistol. _You can do it, Yukari,_ she told herself, her finger twitching on the trigger. _He's counting on you. You can do it._

But she hadn't seen the thin sword hidden behind the columns. Her eyes flew open when Minato cried out in alarm, and as she desperately flung herself out of the blade's path, her grip on the gun loosened. She screamed in horror as it tore free of her grasp and landed in a pool of blood at the blue-haired boy's feet. She slammed into the hard concrete with a choked gasp as all the air flew out of her lungs; her head spun as she fought to keep conscious, and with a great effort, she raised her eyes to his.

He wasn't looking at her. His grey gaze was fixed on the machine at his feet, and he only looked up when one of the Shadow's hands landed in the red puddle only a few feet before him. Suddenly, its grinning blue face was all he could see, and Minato closed his eyes against his impending doom.

An image, faded and scratchy like that in an old film, flickered behind his eyelids. It was the child from the dorm, all bright eyes and dark hair, that sweet smile still in place as he raised his index finger to his temple.  
_  
Go on.  
_  
Only one floor below, safely locked away in the confines of the Command Room, Akihiko lunged forwards in his seat beside Mitsuru and jabbed emphatically at the screen; several monitors, each displaying the motionless Minato, suspended above the gun, glowed brightly in the otherwise dark room. "There," the boxer exclaimed as he pushed out of his seat. Mitsuru was quick to follow, and they were halfway to the door before the Chairman held up a hand.

"Wait."

Slowly, Minato bent to retrieve the pistol. He clutched it in a tight fist as he straightened, his blank eyes glazing over as images tore through his ravaged mind.

He saw Yukari first, shuddering and shaking as she held the gun to her head; the green moon flickered into sight next, only to be swallowed up by that child's face, still smiling, still sweet. He fused almost instantly with the Shadow, blue-faced and forever grinning; it vanished quickly into a blood red moon, and then Minato gritted his teeth and murmured in a voice that didn't sound like his,

_"Per—so—na."  
_  
White exploded behind his eyelids, and power, hot and burning, surged up within his body, running like fire through his veins. Blue fragments danced in the air around him, and a wild grin spread across his face as smoke from the barrel of his gun rose into the night air.

Yukari forced herself to sit up, brown eyes wide in disbelief. "Arisato?" she choked out, staring into his glowing eyes. _No way…_

_Thou art I, and I am thou._

The blue particles that had gathered above the motionless Minato had begun to part, revealing a shock of sleek skin the colour of whitewashed bone, and gleaming red eyes under a mane of gleaming silver.

_From the sea of thy soul, I come forth. I am Orpheus, master of strings.  
_  
All sharp joints and bright light, the creature rose into the sky, silhouetted against the green night. The spaces between the strings of the harp on its back sent thin streams of moonlight onto the roof far below. Its jaw hung loose in a low, inhuman roar.

Mitsuru clenched the keyboard before her with shaking fingers. "It's as we suspected," she whispered.

Just then, a flicker of movement in the boy on the roof caught her attention, and she watched in horror as the grin on Minato's shadowed face turned into a grimace of pain and horror. His eyes flew open as he curled in on himself with a wail, clutching at his head.

High above, Orpheus writhed in the air, screaming. As if being torn at from the inside, it was pulled into itself as arms ripped through the cavern of its throat, and a whole new being tore free.

Amidst Orpheus' remains—a flash of white metal, whipped away on the wind—a true monster rose into the air. Twice the size of the frozen Shadow so far below, the broad-shouldered creature bared a six-foot sword to the chill air and soared down to the roof. Eight coffin-like structures spread out like wings behind it, and it leered at its target, its jaw hanging wide in a sick imitation of a smile.

The Shadow didn't have time to flee before the larger beast was upon it, flinging its weapons away and digging into it with one white-gloved hand. With one slice of the monster's sword, the blue mask was cleaved cleanly in half, left to melt into a hissing acid on the pavement.

Horrified, Yukari shot to her feet, having finally gotten her bearings. One of the Shadow's severed arms flopped grotesquely nearby, and the brunette pressed a hand against her mouth to keep from vomiting. Slowly, its erratic spasms were reduced to slow twitches; before it, too, could vanish, the great monstrosity threw aside his sword and snatched it up. With great oily globs of black dripping from the corners of its metal maw, the creature sneered at it, twisting and pulling until the limb burned in its grasp.

Yukari swallowed hard and tried to step back, only to find herself up against the wall; she feared with all her heart that this monster would turn on her next.

It did nothing of the sort; barely paying the girl a single glance, it turned to the sky and let out another roar—

She blinked, and Orpheus, pearly white against the moonlit sky, had returned. Nearly sick with relief, Yukari fell at once to her knees and sobbed into her palms.

Still hiding in the safety of the Command Room, Mitsuru was starting to feel pretty ill herself. She sagged against the monitor with a gasp, her dark eyes still trained on the mystical being overhead. Beside her, both Akihiko and the Chairman shook their heads in utter disbelief.

"What on earth was _that_?" the boxer said breathlessly, even though he knew full well what it was.

Out on the roof, Yukari looked up from her hands. Minato stood motionless before her, his Orpheus still in the sky. "Is it over?" she whispered despite herself, brushing indignantly at her teary brown eyes.

The blue-haired boy swayed on his feet, slowly returning to himself. The sudden swell of power subsided, and he stumbled on his shoes with a light groan. The word _Persona_ drifted slowly through his mind, and with a last glance up at the white creature overhead as it faded slowly out of sight, he fell to the ground and lay still.

Yukari gasped, pulled herself to her feet, and ran over to her new friend to shake him hard by the shoulders. "Are you okay?" she said, in a tone that gave away that it was less of a question, and more of plea. Cursing herself, she stared hard into his face and grabbed the lapel of his collar, rattling him so hard he nearly cracked his unconscious head against the concrete. "Come on! Say something!"

She heard the sound of footsteps pounding across the open roof, and then Akihiko's deep voice rang out from behind her.

"Are you all right?"  
_  
I am,_ Yukari thought, not even turning to give the two seniors (for she had no doubt that Mitsuru was there as well) the time of day as she slapped Minato lightly on the face, _but he's not._ "Can you hear me?" she all but shouted in his ear. "Please, answer me!"

Her own heavy breathing and the low hum of the machines in the streets as they began to work again were her only response; overhead, the moon's glow turned from green to silver, and all over the world, people jumped back into motion as if not a second had gone by since midnight.

But Minato still did not stir.


	3. iii: devouring moonlight

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.  
**Notes:** Another long chapter! I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**iii:**** devouring moonlight ****( april, part three )**

* * *

Minato felt himself flying, being pulled sharply and helplessly forwards as if there was a rope knotted deep inside him that was quickly being raveled up. He didn't have time to wonder what waited at the end of the line before he was tugged over checkered tiles and through a blue door. Stumbling into a high-backed chair, the blue-haired young man saw before him the same two that had greeted him in this strange room what seemed like ages ago—the old man with the long nose and crooked smile, and the beautiful woman with the cropped silver hair and golden eyes.

"It's so nice to see you again," Igor said, staring at him from above two sets of tapering, interlaced fingers. "You became unconscious after awakening to your power. It's nothing to worry about, though. So, just relax."

Minato started as bits and pieces of the evening's mysterious events slowly began to come back. _Power,_ he thought, dimly, and shook his head.

Igor either didn't notice or didn't care that his guest was blatantly confused and uncomfortable. "By the way," he continued, "I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called a Persona. It is a manifestation of your psyche."

The young man rubbed a hand over his temple. Persona? His psyche? This was getting more puzzling by the second. "I don't understand," he mumbled.

Igor smiled widely. "It may take some time to fully comprehend," he exclaimed dismissively. "A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli."

He had lost Minato completely.

"You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

Okay, that made a little more sense.

"That being said," Igor said gravely, "your power is still weak."

Minato glanced up from his lap at this, raising one eyebrow. From what he could remember, he'd gotten rid of that monster that Yukari had been so scared of, so it didn't seem to him that his "power" was anything to be trifled with. "What do you mean, 'weak'?" he scoffed.

The old man's thin lips quirked upwards at this, and for a split second, the junior thought he saw amusement glitter in Elizabeth's eyes, shattering her impassive expression just for an instant. Then it was gone, and Igor began again. "When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links—your emotional ties with others."

Minato's eyes shifted back to his pants despondently. _My emotional ties with others?_ he thought, wrinkling his nose. _Like my friends?_

"The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please, remember that." Igor pulled lightly at the cuffs of his white gloves. "Now, then. Time marches on in your world." He shot Elizabeth a fleeting glance, and she nodded curtly. When he turned back to Minato, the elderly gentleman looked just a little bit harried. "I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord."

The blue-haired boy gave the strange pair a quick once over. _No thanks,_ he thought to himself, and barely managed to refrain from voicing his opinion aloud.

"Until then," Igor's smile flickered on his sallow, wrinkled face, "farewell."

Very abruptly, all went dark; moments later, Minato felt the stiff, high-backed chair slip out from underneath him. Before he could catch his breath to scream, he was falling, endlessly, into nothing.

Then, with a thump, he landed on something soft. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to open his eyes (had they ever been closed in the first place?), Minato sagged back against whatever it was he was leaning on, and allowed his mind to slowly clear. In his less panicked state, it soon became apparent that there was someone sitting beside him.

Minato tried a fifth and final time to open his eyes. This time, his lids fluttered upwards, and light streamed in. He winced, but could not gather the energy to lift a hand and shield his gaze from the blinding sun. _I was… asleep?_ he thought to himself, as the last remnants of whatever dream he had been having slipped away. _Something about—_ He frowned. _Blue?_

Before he could continue to assess what had happened (or, for that matter, how long he'd been asleep), a figure shifted into his line of vision and blocked the light that was streaming in from the windows beside his bed. "You're awake!" said a familiar voice, and Minato turned his head to see a telltale pink sweater bending over him. He followed that up to a red bow and a white collar, and further up to worried brown eyes and a mop of light brown hair.

"Um, how do you feel?" asked Yukari.

Minato opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a dry hiss. Coughing a little, he sat up a little in his cot and grabbed for a glass of water on the nearby table. "Where am I?" he choked out after taking several long gulps.

"Thank goodness," the brunette said happily, and Minato got the sinking feeling his question wasn't going to be answered. "You finally came to." She sighed and threw up her arms as she pulled away from him and returned to her seat—a little blue stool next to the bed. "How much sleep do you need? It's been a whole week!"

Instead of answering, the young man took a quick look around. _A hospital?_

"I was _so_ worried about you," Yukari insisted with a smile. She watched him glance around and flushed, one slender hand reaching out to press lightly against his shoulder. He settled back amongst the pillows as per her silent request. "Oh yeah, this is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station." Her expression grew more serious as she continued, "The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted. But you kept sleeping and sleeping—you know how worried I was?"

She looked down then, her fingers knotting together in her lap. "Um," she mumbled, meekly, "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything."

He didn't need to ask what she was referring to.

Yukari averted her gaze to the window, guilt shining in her eyes. "Even though I was supposed to protect you, I…" Her voice faded away and she sighed, miserably, only to brighten a moment later. "But your power—it was amazing!"

Minato shook his head slowly, letting his eyes slip shut as he thought back on that night. "What were those things?"

"You mean the Shadows?" There was no trace of amusement in Yukari's tone anymore, and the boy cracked one eye open. "They're what we're fighting against. And the power you used—we call it 'Persona'." She waved one hand dismissively. "We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

Suddenly, Yukari was on her feet, and she danced away from the stool and towards the open curtains. She peered out into the sunlight, her hands locked together behind her back. "I, uh," she started, so softly that Minato had to strain to hear her, "I wanted to tell you that… I'm sort of like you."

He frowned and sat up a little. "What do you mean?"

Yukari turned around at his words, and chewed lightly on her lower lip for a moment before saying, "My dad died in an accident when I was little, and my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms. You're all alone too, right?"

Minato forced a small smile and figured that, if this had been some cheesy romance flick, this was the moment where he would say something like, 'Not anymore,' or something equally moronic. Instead, he just waited in silence.

"To be honest, I already know about your past," Yukari said a moment later, a fact that didn't remotely surprise him. "But it didn't seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine." She paused and looked down at her feet. "It was back in '99. There was a big explosion in the area; supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened." She glanced up, and he saw that her expression had hardened. "He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group. So, I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this," she gestured roughly at his bedridden form, "happened to you."

"Of course," she continued, allowing the smallest trace of a smile to return to her flushed features, "I panicked and wasn't much help. It was my first time fighting them, too. I'm sorry—you wouldn't have to go through all this if I wasn't such a coward."

Minato shifted in his cot and looked stubbornly at the ugly bouquet on the table. "I was scared, too," he admitted, a trifle reluctantly.

Yukari gaped. "Really?" she gasped, as if the idea was unheard of. "But still…" She let out a nervous giggle. "And here I am, telling you this the moment you wake up! While I was waiting, I thought to myself, 'I've been hiding so many things from him. As soon as he wakes up, I'll tell him the truth.'" A wide smile spread across her face; after taking one step towards the stool, however, she seemed to think better of it and hung back. "So, thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time."

She moved slowly towards the door, swinging her hands heartily by her sides as she walked. "All right, I'm going to get going," she said cheerfully. "I'll let the others know you woke up. Take it easy, okay? Be a good patient! And don't hesitate to call the nurse; I'm sure she'll take good care of you." With an exaggerated wink, Yukari was out the door with one last call of, "Bye!"

Minato pressed his face into the cushions and wondered if the poor brunette had any idea how much she babbled.

**April 18****th****, 2009.  
**  
It came as no surprise that Yukari was the one who met him at the school gate the following morning. "Mornin'!" she exclaimed happily, her relief at seeing him out of bed apparent in her shining face. "You seem to be doing pretty well."

Minato nodded. "Yeah, I'm all right," he murmured noncommittally, reaching to turn his music down.

"That's good," the young woman beamed. "Hey, sorry to hit you with this first thing in the morning, but," she shot a conspiratorial look around, "Ikutsuki wants to talk to you today. Come to the fourth floor of the dorm after school, okay? Don't forget."

Nodding, the blue-haired boy followed his new friend inside.

* * *

As soon as the door to the Command Room shut behind him and Yukari, Minato knew what the Chairman had called him there for was no ordinary get-together. _But then,_ he thought to himself as he observed the people sitting around the room, _how could it be, considering what happened last week?  
_  
"Ah, there you are," said Ikutsuki, his perpetual, kind smile fixed on his pale face. He was sitting at the head of the table, so to speak, in a cushy armchair. Mitsuru and a boy Minato had never seen before flanked him on either side. "I'm glad that you're okay. The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you."  
_  
No duh,_ Minato thought as the Chairman asked him to sit down. He plopped down on the nearest ottoman, a few feet away from the other boy, while Yukari settled on the couch beside Mitsuru.

"Oh, before that," the older man clucked, "I believe I mentioned him earlier, but this is Sanada Akihiko."

The young man waved. "How're you doing?" he said with a slight smile. Minato nodded in response, and didn't realise he was smiling back until he felt the grin fade from his cheeks. This Akihiko was tall and impeccably dressed in a pair of black pants and a red vest over a white top; a dark-coloured coat was draped across his lap. There was a bandage above his right eye, completely uncovered by his close-cropped silver hair.

"Okay," Ikutsuki bleated before the introductions could get lengthy, "let me start off by asking you this: would you believe me if I said a day consists of more than twenty-four hours?"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Mitsuru chuckled lightly and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not surprised by your reaction," she said with a smile, probably the first real one he had seen on her beautiful, sculpted face. "However, you've already experienced this truth firsthand." The amusement dropped from her tone, and her face was stony again as she continued, "Do you remember the night you came here? You had to have noticed the signs. The streetlights went out, nothing was working—there were coffins everywhere!"

Minato shivered despite himself, and pulled his ill-fitting school jacket tighter around him.

"Didn't it feel like you were in a different time?" Mitsuru smiled grimly. "_That_'s the Dark Hour—a time period hidden between one day and the next."

The blue-haired young man frowned. "I don't get it," he offered honestly.

"I know how you feel," the Chairman said, leaning forwards in his seat with a reassuring wink. "Who would believe such a story? But the Dark Hour occurs each night, right at midnight. It'll happen tonight, and every night to come."

Akihiko picked up then, and Minato couldn't help but wonder if they'd rehearsed this meeting. "Normal people don't realise it, since they're all sleeping inside their coffins. But that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting." He shot to his feet, smirking. "You saw those creatures. We call them 'Shadows'. They only appear during the Dark Hour, and attack anyone not in a coffin. It's our job," a real smile replaced his confident smirk, "to defeat them. Sounds exciting, huh?"

With a groan of annoyance, Mitsuru stood, as well. "Akihiko!" she snapped, her dark eyes alight. "Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!"

A spark of anger lit up in the boxer's own gaze, and he turned towards the redhead with a sneer on his face. Before he could launch his own verbal attack, however, Ikutsuki raised his hands and cut in, "Now, now. He does his work well."

With equally disgusted sighs, Akihiko and Mitsuru returned to their seats; the Chairman shook his head lightly and turned back to Minato. "Long story short," he said crisply, "we're the Specialised Extracurricular Execution Squad—SEES for short. On paper, we're classified as a school club, but in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows." He gestured to the red-haired girl, who was still scowling across the way. "Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club advisor."

"A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey," the girl in question said then, and Minato got the same practised feel from her words. He wondered how many times they'd gone over this before he'd gotten home from school. "The victim becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them."

Finally, a lull in the conversation—the young man seized this as an opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering him for a while. "What about the police?"

Mitsuru put on a long-suffering smile and closed her eyes, as if Minato's naiveté was almost too much to bear. "Unfortunately, the police can't do anything during the Dark Hour," she said, in what he assumed was her best I'm-trying-not-to-sound-like-you're-a-total-idiot voice.

"Although rare," Ikutsuki cut in, "there are those who can function. Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows."

A light switched on somewhere in the back of Minato's mind, and he nodded along to what the older man said next—though he didn't know why, the knowledge was familiar.

"That's 'Persona'," the Chairman continued, "the power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users, which means," he flung one arm out dramatically, "it's all up to you guys."

Minato didn't quite know what to say. Too busy glaring at Akihiko, Mitsuru wasn't even looking at the blue-haired boy; the boxer was staring at him intently, however, and he quaked a little under the look in his eyes. Similarly, Yukari's pleading gaze was fixed on him, and her hands were clenched over her chest. Ikutsuki, too, was looking at Minato, smiling as always in a supposedly comforting manner. "I see," the young man coughed eventually. Those paying attention sagged back a little in disappointment; the redhead finally let up her glare and sat back.

"I'm glad you're quick to understand," the Chairman said, adjusting his glasses and folding his hand back into the embrace of the other one in his lap.

Mitsuru stood up after seeing that the new prodigy was blatantly not getting the hint; waltzing over to a silver suitcase on the table, she flipped the lid up to reveal a piece of bright red cloth and a gun. Minato edged away from it slightly as the young woman said, "What he's trying to say is, we want you to join us. We've prepared an Evoker for you. We'd like you to lend us your strength."

Minato stared up at her impassively. _Evoker?_ he wondered, but for some obscenely odd reason he couldn't name, he found his mouth forming the words, "All right."

At this, Yukari let out a rush of air and giggled nervously, a little shaky for holding her breath for such a long time without meaning to. "I was afraid you'd say no," she admitted with a smile. "Welcome aboard!"

Ikutsuki, too, was grinning (Minato wondered privately if there ever a time when he wasn't). "Thank you so much," he said emphatically. "I'm really glad." There was a short pause, and then: "Oh, I almost forgot! About your room assignment—why don't you just stay here, in your current room? I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it worked out in the end."

Yukari's face screwed up in confusion. "Hold up?" she interjected. "But wasn't that—oh, never mind. It doesn't matter anymore."

Minato watched her carefully, sure that some quick look had been exchanged between the brunette and Mitsuru to make Yukari shut up, but shrugged it off. _I wonder what's up with them,_ he thought, fanning a hand over his mouth to suppress a yawn. _Man, I'm exhau—_

Suddenly, an ice-cold bolt buried itself deep into Minato's chest. He nearly jumped at the sensation—not unpleasant, but unfamiliar and unsettling. He closed his eyes for a moment, pressing one hand to his forehead as he swayed a little in his seat.

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana,_ whispered a voice in his head, and he saw a card spinning in his mind's eye, moving too fast to see—

All of a sudden, it slowed to a stop, and Minato got the vague impression of the caricature of a man, a pack slung over his shoulder and a dog trailing after him, before the card vanished, and the voice faded from his head. An old man's face now hovered in the forefront of his thoughts, nameless, speaking of things called Social Links; bit by bit, his reoccurring dreams in the mysterious Velvet Room returned to him, and he wondered if that's what the crazy geezer with the long nose had meant.

Minato opened his eyes and blinked a few times, feeling a little nauseous. Yukari was peering at him like he'd grown another head, and the Chairman looked similarly concerned. As quietly as he could, the blue-haired boy excused himself and ran off into bed.

* * *

"Hi, how are you?"

Minato's eyes flew open and he leapt up, eyes scanning the dimness of his room for the intruder. There was a filmy green haze lingering over his eyes that he vaguely remembered from last week. It wasn't long before he located his chuckling visitor; the child who had offered him the contract sat on the edge of his bed, still dressed in the same black and white outfit as before. His bright eyes glittered unnervingly, and Minato nervously lowered himself down to the mattress once more. "How'd you get in here?"

The boy smiled. "I'm always with you," he said, a singsong lilt to his tone, and leaned forwards to place one bone-white hand upon the junior's knee, hidden under the covers. His sweet, somewhat mocking grin quickly turned down at the corners, changing to a chagrined frown as he whispered, "Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

Minato sat up properly. _Who_ is_ this kid?_ "The end?" he asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.

The boy stared up at him with sad blue eyes. "The end of everything." His shoulders sagged in disappointment, and he fingered the coverlet instead of meeting the young man's eyes. "But to be honest, I don't really know what it is."

He stood, then, and smiled slightly in the darkness. "Oh," he murmured, one hand ghosting over the metal footboard, "looks like you've awakened to your power—and an unusual power it is." He looked away, a faraway expression taking over his round face. "A power that takes many forms, yet is bound by none. It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up."

Minato frowned. This kid was seriously starting to creep him out. "Just who—" he started, only to clutch at his sheets in fright when the boy suddenly vanished, only to reappear moments later near the door.

"Do you remember when we first met?" the child all but sang. "I expect you to honour your commitment." A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me," he swore. "Okay then," he had one hand on the doorknob, "see you later."

Instead of going out, however, the boy simply vanished, and Minato's last thought before he fell back to a troubled sleep was of the phantom-child's eyes, glittering like sapphires in the room's unnatural green glow.

**April 19****th****, 2009.  
**  
Minato woke to his name being called; it came as no surprise that it was Yukari, hollering up at some godforsaken hour in the morning.

The blue-haired boy pulled his head out from under the covers and dragged his eyes to the alarm clock—to his surprise, it was a quarter past seven o'clock in the evening. As he reluctantly dragged himself out of bed, he recalled that, instead of actually doing anything interesting on that lazy Sunday, he'd just thrown himself back in with the pillows instead.

Scowling, Minato threw on some jeans and a rumpled tee shirt before heading downstairs. Yukari met him halfway and walked him to the door. Akihiko stood beside it, hefting his coat over one shoulder and smiling.

"Okay, he's here now," the brunette said. "So, what's this all about?"

"There's someone I want to introduce," the boxer said, and turned to the door. "Hey, hurry up!"

Over the clanking of wheels and the knob turning, a very familiar voice said from outside, "Hold your horses! This is freakin' heavy." All of a sudden, the door was flung open and a large set of bags rolled themselves in. Once they were on flat, solid ground with no chance of falling over, the person hidden behind them straightened up and tipped his hat in Yukari's direction with a grin.

She leapt back, horrified. "J-Junpei!" she stuttered. "Why is _he _here?" Her eyes narrowed as she went over the possibilities. "Wait, don't tell me—"

"This is Iori Junpei from Class 2-F," Akihiko said before she could go on. "He'll be staying here as of today."

Junpei chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "What's up?"

Yukari was plainly not amused. "_He_'s staying _here_?" she exclaimed, hands on her hips. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Akihiko let out the smallest trace of a smile. "I bumped into him the other night. He has the potential, but he just awakened to it recently." Either ignoring or not noticing Yukari's varying expressions of disgust, dismay, and disbelief, the senior went on, "I told him about us, and he agreed to help."

"_You _have the potential?" the brunette sneered, and Minato frowned at her, wondering if she meant to sound as scornful as she currently did. "For real?"

Junpei threw one hand up to cover his eyes dramatically, and explained, "He found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much, but…" He laughed and uncovered his face. "Man, that's embarrassing!" Shooting Akihiko a respectful, sidelong glance, the clown continued in a softer voice, "He said that's, you know, completely normal—in the beginning. Like, bein' confused, and not remembering anything. Did you guys know that?"

Minato couldn't resist. "Didn't happen to me," he said with a shrug.

Junpei seemed a little taken aback. "Big deal," he scoffed a moment later, shrugging. "It happens to everyone else." He shook his head. "But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea! I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get," he smiled and adjusted his cap, "kind of lonely, you know?" Yukari scowled at him. Noticing this, he leaned towards her and said, "I bet you're stoked too, right? Havin' me join."

Sticking her nose in the air with a snort, she crossed her arms over her chest and said sarcastically, "Uh, _yeeaahh_."

Akihiko rolled his eyes at her as he turned to leave. "Well, enough with the introductions," he said before the tension between the newest member of SEES and the brattiest could develop into a full-blown catfight. "I think we're about ready."

Junpei pumped his fist into the air and whirled away from Yukari, who deflated at his lack of interest. "Ooh, we're gonna go do somethin'? Sweetness!"

"With this many people," the boxer continued, with a discreet raise of his brows at his comrade's enthusiasm, "we can start exploring that place."

Yukari instantly lost interest in the fight. "You mean… Tartarus?"

Junpei looked around in confusion. He sought out Minato for help, but the blue-haired boy shrugged, just as confused. "Tartarus?" the goofball asked uncertainly. "What's that? Sounds like toothpaste."

Just as Yukari opened her mouth to object, Akihiko turned to him and explained, "We believe we can find the reason for the Dark Hour there."

"I hope so," the young woman mumbled.

Akihiko nodded and motioned silently to Junpei that he would show him the way to his room. Just before the pair disappeared upstairs, the pale-haired boy turned back to Yukari and Minato, still standing by the door, and informed them, "The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready."

**April 20****th****, 2009.**

"I'm tellin' you, man, it was cr—"

Minato found his attention wandering from Junpei's story as the door to the classroom was flung open behind him. Yukari looked up from fishing around in her bag for something that would suffice as lunch, and Junpei turned when he saw her eyebrows disappear into her fringe. Surprisingly, it was Mitsuru who strode in; she brushed past a pair of gossiping girls and stopped in front of Minato's desk. Junpei, who had been perched on one edge, hastily jumped off and stood straight when the redhead's appraising gaze passed over him.

"Can I have a minute?"

The day had been so tedious thus far that Minato was glad to have a distraction, especially from one that nearly promised to be exciting. He nodded, and she went on, "Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone."

Beside him, Yukari looked down at her toes and didn't say anything. Junpei, on the other hand, grinned. "Oh, are we havin' that talk?"

"I'll save the details for later," Mitsuru said shortly. "See you there."

With that, she was out the door and gone; the two girls standing nearby resumed gossiping, this time in even more hushed tones. Junpei shook his head with a laugh, still staring at the place where the senior had stood. "Wow, she didn't waste any time leaving."

"She's probably busy with things like Student Council," Yukari said snidely, "unlike us."

Junpei exchanged a knowing glance with Minato and scratched the back of his head. "Whoa, Yuka," he exclaimed. "Do I sense some hostility?"

Yukari frowned and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. "Well, it's not that I don't _like_ her," she mumbled. "She's just…" She threw up her hands and turned back to her bag. "It doesn't matter."

Junpei went to press further, but the weight of Minato's hand on his arm reduced him to returning to his storytelling.

* * *

Minato and Junpei were the last to wander up to the Command Room that afternoon; the lanky, goofy elder of the two plunked down beside Yukari and Akihiko, while the blue-haired boy chose the couch, making sure to sit an appropriate distance from Mitsuru. As before, the Chairman headed the meeting in his armchair at the front.

"Okay," he said when the two juniors were comfortable, "everybody's here. I'd like your undivided attention." Despite his words, the five members of SEES continued to talk quietly amongst themselves; after a pointed cough, every head switched immediately towards him. "For a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona-users we had. But that number recently jumped to five. Therefore, starting tonight at twelve AM, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

Junpei nervously raised one hand. "Sorry," he said, "I asked this yesterday, but what's this Tartarus thing again?"

Yukari laughed without mirth. "You haven't seen it, Junpei?"

He blinked at her, bewildered.

"It's no surprise," Ikutsuki said quickly, "since it only appears during the Dark Hour."

Junpei rubbed at his temples weakly; he'd missed out on the informative meeting that Minato had been privy to. "The Dark Hour?"

"Just like the Shadows," Akihiko cut in with his familiar smirk. "Interesting, huh? And it's the_ perfect_ place for us to train." With one hand resting lightly on his injured torso—which did not go unnoticed by the other people in the room—he continued, "You can think of it as a Shadow nest."

"Whoa," Junpei exclaimed, sounding impressed and intimidated. "Their nest, huh?"

Yukari looked in between the two boys nervously. She had been watching Mitsuru's frown deepen throughout their exchange and figured it was the right time to interrupt. "But," she said, turning to Akihiko with a worried frown marring her features, "what about your injury?"

"Since Akihiko hasn't fully recovered yet," Mitsuru replied snidely, holding up a hand before the silver-haired young man could answer the question instead, "he'll only come as far as the entrance."

The boxer scowled a little, looking thoroughly putout. "Yeah, I know," he mumbled despondently.

"Well, I'm sure he won't complain, as long as you don't go too far in," the Chairman said cheerfully, smiling as always. "Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid."

"Relax," Junpei proclaimed, leaping to his feet with a grin. "I've got your backs!"

Yukari looked up at him from her place on the pouf, looking half apprehensive and half disdainful. "I'm not so sure about this…"

Dismissing that with a wave of her hand, Mitsuru turned to Ikutsuki. "What about you, Mr. Chairman?"

"I'll stay here," he answered promptly. Adopting a wounded look with a sigh, he reminded them all, "As you know, I can't summon a Persona."

* * *

After dinner, Minato had just settled down for a healthy bout of studying in his room—since he had no doubt in his mind that they wouldn't be heading over to 'Tartarus' before midnight—when a loud knock resounded on the door. With a resigned sigh, he dropped his work and got to his feet, having little doubt who it was. As he made his way over, he glanced at the watch strung to his wrist and discovered that it was nearly eleven. _Maybe I hadn't just sat down, after all,_ he thought, tossing an exasperated look at the history books splayed open on the table.

Unsurprisingly, it was Junpei who waited outside. He followed the blue-haired boy back inside with a huge sigh, and threw himself wordlessly down onto the nearby bed. "This," he said, pressing his face into the pillows, "is some crazy shit."

Minato sat back down at the desk and stared at the young man reclining on his bed._ I can study later, _he decided, and murmured, "Yeah."

Hoisting himself up on his elbows, the taller boy gave his friend a level stare. "You seen this Tartarus thing?" he asked. When Minato shook his head no, Junpei collapsed back amongst the blankets with a groan. "A Shadow nest, huh," he mumbled thoughtfully a moment later, and added, louder, "You know I'm gonna kick ass, right?"

The other young man considered turning on his music and settling down with a book; placed where he was, Junpei would be none the wiser, and would continue to talk Minato's ear off without realising that he wasn't listening at all. His conscience won out in the end, however, and he repeated, "Yeah."

Junpei forced his head out of the coverlet and peered at his friend with a scrutinising eye. He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to comment on how talkative Minato wasn't, when another knock on the door interrupted them. Neither boy had to get up before Mitsuru's voice rang out from behind the wood.

"Arisato? I know it's early, but we're going to leave in a few minutes. Iori's not in his room, so if you see him, please tell him to get ready." Without waiting for a reply, the juniors heard the redhead spin on her heel and march away down the hallway; they listened to the sound of her footsteps grow faint in a silence that was only broken when Junpei yawned and leapt to his feet.

"Let's go."

They met up with the rest of SEES at the front door of the dorm; with Mitsuru and Akihiko in the lead, the quintet marched over to Iwatodai Station. From there, they took a short train ride—at this hour of the night, the carriages were empty, save for a few oddballs, one of whom leered at Yukari until she took cover behind Minato—over to Port Island.

It was by no means a short commute, and by the time they reached their destination, Junpei was almost too sleepy to be surprised—almost.

"This is it?" he said incredulously, rubbing at his eyes and staring around in surprise. "_This _is the place?" He turned to Yukari, who barely spared him one glance. "Why _here_?"

Akihiko fished around in his pockets and pulled out a gleaming mobile. Flicking it open, he murmured, "Just wait a few minutes. It's almost midnight."

All breath was held; in the silence, the slow, steady beeping of the boxer's phone slowly as it counted down to twelve AM was almost deafening—fifty-eight, fifty-nine…

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the crescent moon's glow darkened to an eerie, glimmering green, and only a few yards away, Gekkoukan High shot upwards. The sound of screeching metal and breaking glass was a fitting accompaniment as the school twisted; the panes fell out of the windows and vanished as whole new wings sprung out of the sides of the building. Junpei and Minato watched, gaping; even Yukari, who had seen it before, looked nervous. Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only ones to watch with completely calm faces.

The group was thrust into shadow as Gekkoukan High grew even more above them, morphing into a leaning, immense tower. Its surface was rutted with pits and holes; corners were thrust out in all directions with long walkways stretching out into the night, beyond its curving magnificence. Huge clocks marred the outer walls, each frozen in place but still resonating with a low ticking. The crescent moon framed the twisting battlements of the fortress; at the top, a single, gleaming minaret, almost white in colour, glittered in the centre of the green glow. It was perfect and spotless to the rest of the tower's filth, dirty with grime and shadow and blood that dripped from every surface, hitting the pavement far below in time with the clocks' tick-tocks.

"This is Tartarus," Mitsuru murmured once the building had finished its transformation. Beyond the gate, the trees swayed slowly, their leaves lit up in the glow of the nearest clock face; the great timepiece gleamed blue and beautiful just beyond the entrance and high above their heads. Metal spikes jutted out around it, turning it into a sick imitation of the sun. "The labyrinth that reveals itself during the Dark Hour."

Beside her, Junpei's whole body was on edge. "Labyrinth?" he sputtered, eyes huge in his pale face. "What are you _talking_ about?" His voice began to border on hysterical. "What happened to our _school_?!"


	4. iv: clockwork maze

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.**  
Notes:** Has it really been a month? Eek! Life plus FFN being dumb equals one late update.

* * *

**iv: clockwork maze ( april, part four )**

* * *

Mitsuru crossed her arms across her chest and turned back to Tartarus, completely unfazed by Junpei's panic. "Once the Dark Hour passes," she explained, "everything returns to normal."

Junpei shot an incredulous look at Akihiko. "_This_ is the 'nest' you were talking about?" His hands fisted by his sides and he shook his head vehemently. "But why? Why'd our school turn into a giant tower?" When nothing but silence answered his outburst, with even Mitsuru looking at her feet, the young man took in a deep breath and steadied himself. "You don't know, either?"

The redhead looked back up at him regretfully. "No."

"I'm sure it's complicated," Yukari put in. "Who cares, anyway? It's not like it would change our minds about fighting."

While Junpei shot a worried, unconvinced look her way, Akihiko smiled at her words. "Well, maybe now we'll find out," he offered. "Mitsuru and I have only gone in to take a peek; this will be our first time exploring it. Exciting, isn't it? There has to be some sort of clue in here about the Dark Hour."

"Akihiko, I respect your enthusiasm," Mitsuru started before he could get too fired up, and one could hear the traces of amusement in her tone, "but you won't be accompanying us today."

The boxer turned back to her with a sour scowl marring his features. "I _know_. You don't have to remind me."

Junpei, having calmed down since Tartarus' first appearance, was watching the two seniors bicker with a keen eye. Edging over to Minato, he elbowed his friend in the ribs and whispered, "Hey, you think those two—?"

Before Minato could reply, Mitsuru caught Junpei's attention by glaring at him fiercely enough to shut him right up. The blue-haired boy was reminded of that old saying—if looks could kill… well, if that had been the case, the unfortunate clown would have certainly been six feet under. "Let's go," the redhead bit out, and spun on her heel, stalking into the tower without another word.

Exasperated, Akihiko rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh as he motioned for the juniors to follow her inside.

The embarrassed Junpei did as asked without a murmur of disagreement and trotted alongside Akihiko as he made his way around the gate and up the steps. Yukari and Minato silently took up the rear, and no one spoke until Tartarus' wide entryway was behind them. At that point, it was of course Junpei who first broke the peace and quiet.

"Whoa," he gasped, squinting into the darkness above him in search of even a trace of ceiling, "it's just as cool on the inside!"

Minato couldn't help but agree. In front of him, a massive staircase stretched up to another timepiece—this one looked a lot like the inside of a wristwatch, all golden dials and ornate fixtures. A giant minute hand was frozen, predictably, at midnight; below it, a jagged doorway lay perpetually open. Around the opening, the clock's beautiful surface was spiderwebbed with cracks, as if the door had been forced. The rest of the room was an open arena pockmarked with endless pillars; a few unfamiliar objects were interspersed beside them—including a gold pillar behind the steps, a strange green contraption near the door, and what looked suspiciously like a motorcycle.

"But it sure is creepy," Yukari supplied in the silence that had again picked up as the five members of SEES surveyed the first floor of Tartarus.

"This is only the entrance," Mitsuru informed them as, beside her, Akihiko sat down on the first step to rest. "The labyrinth lies beyond the doorway at the top of the stairs."

"First," the boxer said calmly, stretching his legs, "we'll have you three get a feel for this place. Why don't you go have a look around?"

Yukari gaped. This was obviously not the plan she had expected. "_What_?" she exclaimed incredulously. "By _ourselves_?"

"We're not asking you to go very far, and I'll be feeding you information from here." Mitsuru let her hand linger over the seat of the bike; for the second time in the space of a few minutes, Minato wondered what it was doing there.

"So, you two didn't plan on comin' in the first place?" Junpei asked, shooting a nervous look around.

"That's right." Akihiko forced himself to his feet slowly, one hand clamped protectively to his injured ribs. "We're also going to appoint a leader to make any necessary decisions."

Junpei felt a silly grin spread across his face. "For real? One of _us_?" he asked carefully, and snuck a look at the two juniors standing beside him. There was no question who the position should go to; the young man leapt forwards and pointed enthusiastically at his chest, letting out an appreciative whistle. "Oh! Oh!" he crowed, waving his arms about excitedly. "Me! Me, me! Pick me!"

Akihiko rubbed the back of his neck with a groan. Eventually, he flicked his eyes in Minato's direction and said, "You're in charge."

Junpei gaped. "W-wait," he exclaimed, scowling. "Why_ him_? He doesn't look like a leader!"

Yukari shot the newest member of SEES a look that was half sympathetic and half scornful. He was too annoyed to notice, but reluctantly tore his attention away from Akihiko when she spoke. "But," she said, knotting her hands together worriedly, "he _has_ fought them before."

Junpei shook his head in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"That's true," the boxer put in, "but there's another reason. You two…" With one quick glance in Mitsuru's direction, Akihiko took his Evoker in hand and raised it to his temple. This got Yukari and Junpei's attention at once, and they shirked back at the sight of the senior with a gun to his head. It gave them pause that he was smirking. "Can you summon your Persona without any difficulties, like he can?"

Junpei swallowed hard and looked at Yukari. She looked just as freaked out as he felt, but that didn't stop him from forcing a confident grin onto his own face. "Y-yeah, of course I can!"

"I think so," the brunette echoed, but she looked too scared for the remark to be believable.

Akihiko lowered the gun. "These are _Shadows _we're talking about here," he said softly. "Without your Persona, you're screwed."

Yukari looked down at her feet. "I'm aware of that."

Akihiko nodded, looking thoroughly unconvinced, and glanced up at the entrance to the labyrinth. The trio of underclassmen took that as an invitation to start their ascent, but Minato had taken no more than a step towards the stairs when a shiver ran down his spine. He stopped dead and looked around, unnerved. Ahead of him, Junpei and Yukari seemed completely at ease compared to how uncomfortable he felt.

And then he saw the door.

Blue in colour, it stood near the entrance of Tartarus, but away from the wall—almost as if it was jutting out of thin air. Minato had seen this door before, and strode over, entranced by the soft light that glowed from beyond it. Ignoring Yukari's calls, he fished around in his coat pocket for the key that Igor had given him.

It unlocked the door almost instantaneously. Without a look back, he stepped into the cobalt radiance and felt reality fall away behind him.

* * *

No one spoke until Minato sat down in the uncomfortable, high-backed chair that he was always inexplicably seated in when he awoke in the Velvet Room. This time, he found his way in front of it of his own accord; it was only after he spotted the look in Elizabeth's wise golden eyes that he threw himself down in the harp-shaped mess of long spokes and jagged angles.

"I've been waiting for you," the old man behind the oval table said then, and a smile deepened the endless wrinkles marring his wide, round face. "The time has come for you to wield your power. The tower that you are about to venture into—how did it come to be? For what purpose does it exist?" Igor's eyes twinkled knowingly, and the grin on his face widened, exposing rotting, yellowed teeth. "Regrettably, you are not yet capable of answering these questions. That is why you must be made aware of the nature of your power."

The Velvet Room was suddenly flooded with light from beyond the grate, and the outline of Igor's squat stature was suddenly painfully sharp against the sudden burst of white. It thrust Elizabeth's face into shadow, and for one long moment, only the faint ivory glint of her smile was visible.

Minato swallowed hard. "The nature of my power?" he asked, tearing his gaze from the woman's glassy eyes.

Igor leaned forwards, resting his chin on his bony, gnarled hands. "Your power is unique," he said. "It's like the number zero—it's empty, but at the same time holds infinite possibilities. _You_, my boy," the elderly man's face twisted with what could've been pride, and his voice took on a distinctly excited air, "are able to possess multiple Personas, and summon them as needed."

Elizabeth's hand on his shoulder calmed him at once. Without missing a beat, Igor sat back and placed his hands in his lap, though his smile didn't fade. "And when you have defeated your enemies," he continued, hushed, "you will see the faces of possibility before you! There may be times when they are difficult to grasp, but do not fear. Seize what you have earned! Your power will grow accordingly; be sure to keep that in mind."

The silver-haired woman beside him bent to whisper in his ear. Minato strained to hear what she was saying, but the low hum of the room as it ascended higher drowned her words out. Igor smiled condescendingly as she pulled away from him, and patted her hand in a way that was not comforting in the slightest. "My spare time will soon be scarce," he said. "But, please, come again of your own accord. I'll tell you then about my true role—the manner in which I can best assist you. Until then, farewell."

Though Minato went to stand and return to the door, everything around him faded to white before he had the chance to get to his feet. With the image of Elizabeth's flickering sun-coloured eyes seared into his mind, he stumbled, somehow, back into reality.

* * *

When he next knew where he was, the blue-haired boy was back in Tartarus, frozen before the glowing azure door. Yukari and Junpei stood at his side, both peering concernedly at his blank eyes.

"Hey," the brunette said, cutting through his trance, "are you all right?"

Minato shook his head to clear his thoughts as the last afterimage of Igor and his silent companion faded from his mind. Before he could reply, however, Junpei gave him a sceptical once over and echoed, "Yeah, what's up? You look like a zombie."

Minato shrugged and gestured to the entrance to the Velvet Room; nobody had said that he couldn't tell his friends about the mysterious old man and his beautiful cohort. "I opened this door, and—"

"Huh?" Yukari interrupted, shooting the transfer student a worried look. "What door?"

Junpei laughed and turned back to where Mitsuru and Akihiko stood, waiting. "Man, are you loco?" he chuckled.

Apparently, Yukari thought as much. "Have you been nodding off?" she asked, taking Minato by the arm and leading him carefully back to the stairs. He wanted to shrug her off, but didn't have the heart to do it. "You seem kind of out of it…"

"Dude, you're supposed to be our leader," Junpei called, and not without a trace of malice. "Get your head in the game!"

Minato shrugged his shoulders and tried not to be annoyed. "Let's go," he sighed, pulling out of Yukari's grip so that he could lead the way up the stairs. His two friends followed as he ducked underneath the giant minute hand and pushed himself through the small, jagged opening in the clock's face.

Junpei and Yukari had been chattering softly in an attempt to fill the nervous silence as they had mounted the steps, but the instant the trio passed the threshold, both fell silent. Tartarus' entryway had been filled with unnatural light, from both the moon overhead and the massive, glowing timepieces all around. The inner recesses of the building were startlingly dark in comparison; while the walls seemed to be lit from within and glowed a soft green colour, the ceiling above them was strung with cobwebs and gloom. Blood stained the black and white tiles beneath the juniors' feet.

Junpei swallowed hard and gripped the hilt of his katana with both hands. "So this is it, huh?"

Yukari took a nervous step forwards to peer around the nearby corner. "I hope I don't get lost," she murmured, and pulled a single arrow from the quiver hanging from her shoulder.

_"Can you all hear me?"_

Junpei jumped at the voice resounding in his head; as he glanced around, he noticed that both of his companions seemed to have heard it too. There was no mistaking who it was, so he cleared his throat and said, "Whoa! Is that you, Kirijo?"

_"I'll be providing audio backup from here on out,"_ the voice of the red-haired girl continued, and the young man did another double take.

"Wait," he said, staring wide-eyed at Yukari in the hope that he might get some answers. She merely shrugged at him, looking miserable and bemused. "You mean, you can see inside here?"

_"It's my Persona's ability," _Mitsuru answered a few moments later, already sounding rather weary of the questions._ "I'd like to join you, but the structure of Tartarus changes from day to day. That's why outside support is imperative."_

"Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better," Yukari grumbled.

The redhead made a point of ignoring the sour junior, and continued in a brisk voice,_ "Now, based on your current location, you can expect to encounter enemies at any minute. They shouldn't be too tough, but proceed with caution. Practise makes perfect."_

Junpei grinned and took a few steps forwards, his sword raised high. "Right!" he replied brightly, and gestured hurriedly at his companions to hurry up and follow him. To his surprise, Yukari stayed a little ways behind.

"Got it," she mumbled in a falsely cheerful voice, her eyes on her toes. Her hold on her bow was white-knuckled. "Why is she always like that?"

Junpei paused, a little unsettled by her animosity. "Yuka," he started uncertainly, before catching Minato's warning gaze and falling silent. "Ah, whatever." He forced the excited grin back on his face and gestured to the dark hallway ahead of them. "Come on, let's go!" he shouted, but had barely taken two steps before he stumbled over something lying in the tiles. It skittered into the darkness as it connected with his foot, and down the corridor, something growled low in its throat. Junpei blanched and shot a nervous look back at his two friends.

Minato's expression mirrored the other boy's, but he took a step forwards nevertheless—after all, they'd have to face whatever waited in the dark no matter what, right?

_"Watch out,"_ Mitsuru's voice cut in sharply, loud enough to make the trio jump._ "I detect a Shadow in front of you."_

His fears confirmed, SEES' young leader motioned to his companions to come with him as he ventured into the dark. "We can handle it," he said, and had reached out for Yukari's hand before he realised it. Her fingers were warm in his, and he barely managed a comforting squeeze before a sudden movement in the dimness ahead forced him to seize his Evoker.

With sword in hand and mock-gun in the other, Minato stood strong at the head of the group and declared, "Come on."

Yukari and Junpei made no move to step forwards, and soon the blue-haired young man saw what they had before him. What he'd assumed to be a harmless patch of shadow on the ground was actually its alive counterpart; not altogether dissimilar to the monster that he'd defeated on the full moon, this particular creature was like a smudge of congealed, oozing darkness. It held a blue mask high in one fat, sticky hand.

_"This Shadow is called a Maya,"_ Mitsuru said. _"Be cautious!"_

The Maya snarled unintelligibly at them and took a menacing step forwards. Minato's finger trembled for a moment on the trigger, and in that brief lull, Yukari had taken aim and fired at the creature in her midst.

Her arrow buried itself into the tiles a foot or so away from the Shadow, but it was startled nonetheless; the Maya froze, chattering in its own language as it stared down at the arrowhead warily. Seizing this opening, Junpei dug into his jacket and pulled out his Evoker. Within a few seconds, he had pressed it to his temple and let out a shout—

"_Hermes_!"

A great creature rose into the air, glittering yellow and black in the light that swirled around the wide-eyed Junpei. Small metal wings sprouted from its helmeted head, echoing the massive ones that extended from the Persona's wrists. Its black body, all brass bolts and long spokes, fanned out and ended in narrow golden legs. The face, eyeless, was turned to the quaking Shadow, but before the Maya could flee, Hermes had extended one long arm. The creak of its unused joints nearly drowned out the noise of the fire that crackled loudly from its fingertips.

A few moments later, the monster had been reduced to a smear on the tiles, dark against the bloodstains. Exhausted, Junpei sagged against one wall, his sword falling useless to the ground. Both hands came up to cradle his head, and in the complete silence, the noise of his heavy breathing was deafening.

"J-Junpei?" Yukari said eventually, lowering her bow to reach out for her classmate. "Are you okay?"

There was a long pause, and then the young man tore his hands from his head and looked, beaming, at the startled brunette. "That was _awesome_!" he crowed. "Did you _see_ that?_ My _Persona just totally kicked that thing's ass into next week!"

_"Yes, well done, Iori,"_ Mitsuru chimed in. _"But don't let your guard down. Just because you won this victory doesn't mean you'll win the next."_

"Yes, ma'am," Junpei said brightly, not deterred by her pessimistic attitude. He pumped one fist in the air, whooping. "Man! That was _so cool_!" He whistled appreciatively and smirked up at Minato as he bent to retrieve his katana. "Bet you wish your Persona was as sweet as mine, huh?"

Before the blue-haired boy could respond, footsteps alerted him to another Shadow's presence, and no sooner had he turned towards the sound than the redhead's voice echoed in his head.

_"Watch out! There's another!"_

Eager to show off his skills and make up for the lack of them in the previous battle, Minato had brought his Evoker to his temple before the monster even realised the trio of humans stood in its way. This one was shaped like a hand and pink in colour, dotted with green spots. It looked almost friendly, at least until you saw the tiny face where an arm should've extended, and the sharp incisors in its mouth.

"_Orpheus_," Minato called, as if some deeper instinct had told him his Persona's name. His voice was drowned in the scream of the gun at his head, and he watched, fascinated, as a huge, glimmering creature rose into the air above him. He remembered it dimly from the night of the full moon, but now that his mind was clear, he was able to drink in every detail.

His Orpheus had no mouth, and speakers on its turquoise chest hummed a soft melody. Red eyes shone from beneath a white mane, the same washed-out colour as its limbs. Long, nimble hands were clothed in pale gloves, and instead of feet, the Persona's legs ended in rounded stumps. Mounted on its back was a grey harp, which it swung at the unsuspecting Shadow. The monster was knocked off balance and fell with a keening wail. In an instant, Orpheus was on it, the music streaming from its speakers growing louder as it tore viciously into the hand-like creature.

When the Shadow had at last fallen, and Orpheus gone with it, it was Minato's turn to rest against Tartarus' filthy walls, gasping for breath. He fought to keep upright as nausea flooded his slight body.

Junpei eyed him, trying in vain to appear that he wasn't impressed. "Yeah, well," he grumbled. "Yours is pretty cool, too, I guess."

The leader couldn't help but smile at his friend's newfound interest in the hilt of his sword. "I know," he coughed, one hand on his chest as he waited for his heartbeat to slow. "Cooler than yours."

Junpei opened his mouth to protest, but fell silent before he could even think up a retort, his eyes glued to Yukari. Curious, Minato followed his gaze to see the girl standing with the Evoker pressed between her eyes, which were squeezed shut. Her shoulders were shaking.

"Hey, Yuka," Junpei said, raising a hand to stop her. "You don't need to do that. There's no more Shad—"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by her scream of, "_Io_!" as she pulled the trigger. Her head snapped back with the force of it, and she stumbled, woozy, as her own Persona rose above her. It stunned both of the boys into silence.

A woman was curled in between two ivory horns. Her wrists were bound together by shackles, as were her ankles. Chains around her middle tied her to her chariot, which took on the shape of a cow's skull. The lady's head was bowed, her eyes shut, fingers clasped in prayer. Her flaxen hair curled like smoke above her. As she opened her eyes, the cow awoke as well, and no sooner had this happened than Junpei and Minato felt their spirits lifting, their heartbeats slowing. They were suddenly filled with strength.

As suddenly as it appeared, Io was gone, and Yukari seemed twice as worn out as the boys had been when they had used their Evokers. She swayed on her feet and, without thinking, the blue-haired boy held his arms out to steady her. She held onto him so tight that he could feel her nails biting into his arms through the fabric of his jacket, but didn't dare dislodge her. After a moment or two, she pulled away of her own accord, red-faced.

"Th-thanks," she muttered. "Sorry."

Junpei still hadn't gotten over her Persona. "What did you_ do_?" he demanded, stretching, enamoured of his newfound vigour. "Did you—did you _heal_ us?"

"I don't know," she mumbled, embarrassed by his attention. "I guess. I—I don't really have control over what Io does."

_"Well done, Takeba,"_ Mitsuru said before she could go on. Yukari flushed prettily at the compliment and looked down at her toes. _"Let's go back to the dorm for today. There should be an Access Point somewhere on that floor—you can use it to return to the entrance. I don't sense any more Shadows around, so it would be best to split up and search individually."_

Yukari swallowed hard, still a little shaken from the use of her Evoker. "S-split up?" she demanded. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

_"I'm sure you'll be fine,"_ the redhead answered dismissively._ "Though, it's up to Arisato."_

The brunette gave Minato a pleading look. "I really don't think we should," she said softly. "What if there _are_ some Shadows still around? I wouldn't want to run into one on my own!"

"Kirijo said she didn't sense any more," Junpei put in, unhelpfully.

Yukari scowled at him and tugged insistently at her leader's sleeve. "We might get lost," she added, panic getting the best of her. "What if one of us got turned around? They could be wandering around here forever!"

Minato knew that she was referring directly to herself, and took pity on her. "Okay," he conceded. "Junpei, you take this route. Yukari, come with me."

Junpei grinned at him and winked, conspicuously, over the girl's shoulder. "That's fine with me, man," he said, breezily. "I'm sure if I find any Shadows, me and Hermes will kick ass!" With that, he set off into the darkness, leaving Minato and Yukari alone in the junction.

"Hey!" the brunette shouted after him. "Junpei! We're looking for the way out, remember?"

He waved a hand in grudging acknowledgement as he turned a corner and was gone from sight. Exasperated, Yukari's hands landed on her hips, and she sighed. "He's hopeless," she told Minato solemnly, and he stifled a laugh. "He better not get himself killed!"

"Come on," he said, offering her his hand. After a moment of hesitation, she took it, pink rising in her high cheekbones, and they set off together down the dark and twisting halls.

* * *

A low buzzing filled his ears, and for a moment, Minato could see nothing but an eerie green glow as he felt his feet leave the ground. It had taken a good fifteen minutes to locate the Access Point, what with Yukari hanging onto his side as if they were about to be ambushed by an army of Shadows, and another ten to get Junpei going in the right direction. Once they had all gathered in front of the glowing green platform, it was like a switch had been flipped, and then light and the distinct absence of sound was all Minato knew.

As he slowly returned to himself, the blue-haired boy discovered that he and his two classmates now stood in front of the strange green contraption in the entrance. The large room seemed agonizingly bright compared to the damp darkness of Tartarus' inner corridors, and Minato blinked rapidly to banish the spots from his vision. Once he could see clearly, he noticed Mitsuru and Akihiko standing by the stairs.

Junpei and Yukari started towards them, their heads still clearing, and Minato brought up the rear. Once they were all in a line in front of the two seniors, the red-haired girl's lips curved upwards in a slight smile.

"Welcome back," she said. "So, how was it?"

Minato felt himself returning her smile. "No problem," he replied blithely, before Junpei could say something similar.

"I see," Mitsuru said, laughing lightly behind one long-fingered hand as she exchanged a knowing look with Akihiko. "Well, if you gained confidence, that's the best thing you could've achieved."

"Wow," Junpei cut in finally, leaning forwards with a grin. "I never knew I had that kind of power! We kicked some ass!" He looked around at his two companions for confirmation and straightened up, stretching his hands high above his head. "But damn," he continued, mid-yawn, "I'm _beat_."

Yukari rolled her eyes. "That's because you were bouncing around like a little kid," she teased.

Junpei stuck his tongue out at her and shot back, "You look pretty tired yourself."

She rubbed at one arm and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm still trying to catch my breath, actually."

"That's the effect of the Dark Hour," Mitsuru said, nodding. "You'll become fatigued more easily." She tossed her hair over one shoulder and added briskly, "Don't worry, though. You'll adapt. But—I'm surprised. You all did much better than I expected. At this rate," she eyed the senior who stood beside her, "they'll catch up to you in no time, Akihiko."

"Heh," the boxer snorted, despite the smile on his face, "we'll see about that."

As excited chatter started up around him, Minato found himself overwhelmed by a sudden burst of icy cold. It welled up from deep in his chest, running through his veins like frosty fire; the force of it was enough to make his knees buckle. He was only vaguely aware of Yukari grabbing onto his arm, pulling him upright, and her worried exclamations. As the cold began to spread to every part of his body, a high, whispery voice filled his thoughts—one that he'd heard before.

_Thou art I, and I am thou,_ it sang, and Minato saw the same card that he had a few days prior. It spun lazily in his mind's eye, slower than the previous time, and in the few seconds before it vanished, he memorised in every embossed inch of it.

Once it was gone and nausea was coiling in his stomach, he began to fear that he would have to become accustomed to this bitter cold.

**April 21****st****, 2009.**

Minato woke up exhausted and aching all over. His sword arm felt too heavy to lift, and there was a fading imprint in the shape of an Evoker on his palm. He seriously considered pretending that his alarm had never gone off, but Yukari rapping at the door foiled that plan.

"I know you're tired," she called in, sounding as if she was speaking mid-yawn. "We all are. But we still have to go to school…"

He didn't answer, and pulled the pillow over his head. To his disappointment, it didn't quite manage to drown out her words.

"Come on," she was saying, her voice edging on an annoyed whine. "You are awake, aren't you? Arisato?"

Groaning, Minato pulled his body out from under the covers and staggered to his feet. "Yeah," he mumbled, pressing the heel of his working hand into one eye. "Yeah, I'm up." If Yukari said anything more, his own yawn drowned it out, and soon enough he heard her walking away down the hall.

Twenty minutes later, he met the brunette at the door. No sooner had she smiled at him, tiredly, than a sour-looking Junpei joined them, bleary-eyed and cursing under his breath. All three were washed, dressed, and every bit as exhausted as they had been while lying in their respective beds. Mitsuru and Akihiko, of course, were wide-awake and as cheery as the two seniors got.

"I'm glad to see you're all here," the redhead told them as she escorted them out the door, eyeing Junpei all the while. "Especially you, Iori. I was under the impression that you were one to skip days like today."

Junpei shifted from foot to foot and pulled his backpack into a more comfortable position on his shoulder. "I would've," he muttered, "if you hadn't waited at my door for half an hour!"

Mitsuru shot him a cold smile, but didn't say anything more.

The rest of the trip to Gekkoukan passed without incident, though Junpei's disposition didn't brighten until he spotted some cute ladies at the school gate. With a wave and a wink, he ran up to the gossiping girls, an exasperated Yukari at his heels. Minato couldn't be bothered to join them, and when Mitsuru and Akihiko set off at a brisker pace than he was willing to keep up with, he was left on his own.

But not for long. As he passed the gate where Junpei was currently trying to romance the two girls (while ignoring the protesting Yukari), a friendly-looking boy fell into step beside him. "Hey," he exclaimed, beaming. "You're Minato, right?"

The blue-haired young man shot him a wary glance. "Yeah, why?"

"Man, I knew it!" The other student grinned toothily and nodded towards Junpei and Yukari, who were bickering now that the other girls had left. "I heard from Junpei that you're pretty close with Yukari. What's up with that?" Minato didn't respond, and the boy rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter," he said dismissively. "I'm looking for someone with a little more experience, anyway."

Minato stared at him briefly before averting his gaze to the school. The first bell was due to ring at any moment, and this nutcase was just babbling away…

"By the way," the nutcase crooned, "I'm Tomochika Kenji!" As if reading his companion's thoughts, he motioned towards where the auditorium was and said, "There's a morning assembly, so we better hurry." He motioned for Minato to follow him, and the blue-haired boy did, if a little hesitantly.

They wound up sitting with Yukari and Junpei, and Kenji continued to babble away all throughout the principal's speech. He only shut up when a girl took the stand and declared, "That concludes the main portion of today's assembly. Next, we'll hear a word from the Student Council. Please welcome the new president, Kirijo Mitsuru, from Class 3-D."

At her name, the redhead rose from her seat at the side of the stage, and strode towards the podium. "Thank you," she said.

"So," Yukari mumbled from behind Minato, "she did get elected. Well, I guess she_ is _the most popular girl in school."

"You can say that again!" Junpei chimed in, elbowing Minato in the ribs and heaving an overdramatic sigh. "There's, like, some kind of _aura_ around her! Besides, this school's owned by the Kirijo Group, right?"

Yukari looked intently at her hands, folded plaintively in her lap. "Yeah, I try not to think about that."

"As I begin my term as Student Council President," Mitsuru began at that moment, fixing the microphone to best suit her as she pulled away from the other girl with a nod, "I'd like to share with you my vision for this coming year. It is my firm belief that each of us must accept the responsibility of bettering our school." She gripped the podium and leaned forwards, her dark eyes skimming over the crowd below her. "However, change cannot occur without sustained effort and an unprecedented amount of commitment._ That_ is why we must restructure our lives to accommodate this lofty goal."

The students, for the most part enraptured, sunk into their seats as she spread her arms wide. "I'd like each of you to dig deeply into your well of motivation, and re-evaluate your convictions to imagine a bold new future without losing sight of the realities around you. That is the key. I am certain that many of you have your own visions of the future, but for us to reap the full benefits of our education, your participation, ideas, and enthusiasm are essential. Thank you."

There was a long silence as she stepped down from the podium and walked back to the edge of the stage. No sooner had she returned to her seat than a round of thunderous applause filled the air. She smiled and nodded her head, obviously pleased with herself.

"Dang," Junpei said loudly over the clapping. "That was freakin' amazing!" He paused as the noise died down, and shot a look over his shoulder at Yukari, then one at Minato. "So… do you have any idea what she just said?"

The blue-haired boy sat back in his seat, shaking his head. "Not a clue."

"Me neither," Junpei sighed. "We live in the same dorm, but it's like we're on different planets. Man, if she asks for my opinion, I don't know what I'll say!"

Minato withheld the comment that Mitsuru would never in a million years ask Junpei what he thought of her speech, and nodded his head sagely.


	5. v: end unknown

**D****isclaimer:** I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.**  
Notes:** It hasn't been five months! It hasn't! You're lying!

* * *

**v: ****end unknown ****( april, part five )**

* * *

Minato barely managed to resist falling asleep in the middle of his Composition class, and only convinced himself to stay awake when Kenji, snoring away behind him, was roused by Ms. Toriumi and told to write an essay for his rudeness. He was to bring in a slice of cake for her, too, and the blue-haired boy found it a little perturbing that he couldn't tell if his teacher was kidding or not.

Once school had ended for the day, and Kenji had taken off, grumbling about his extra assignment, Minato gathered his stuff and made for the door, happy to go home and start his homework rather than hang out. As he passed the windows, a tall student in a jump suit caught his arm.

"Hey," the young man said. He looked nervous but friendly, with a big forehead and short, dark hair; he was holding a stack of flyers in his hands, one of which he gave to Minato. "Starting on the twenty-third, athletic clubs will be recruiting new members—uh, that is, only the kendo, track, and swim teams. The rest are full." He offered the transfer student a shy smile. "You should join one!"

Minato glanced down at the paper in his hand. A large yellow smiley face told him, in big black block letters, all the advantages of participating in sports. Hesitant, he fingered the edge of the flyer, remembering that he sucked royally at things like soccer and basketball. And yet, kendo didn't sound so bad, especially with the workouts in Tartarus that he bound to be doing. "Okay," he said, softly.

The tall kid smiled. "You'll think about it?" he said, and added, "The manager of the kendo team asked me to do this, in case you're wondering. Spreading the word, you know?"

Minato let his lips curve up just the tiniest bit as he shoved the paper into his pocket. "Yeah," he said. "You're in kendo?"

The boy nodded, chest thrust out proudly. "I'm the star!" he boasted, grinning, and extended an arm. "The name's Kaz."

Minato took the proffered hand and introduced himself with a proper smile this time. Afterward, Kaz excused himself and the blue-haired boy found his way to the exit. No sooner had he left the building than he passed a posse of girls gathered by the steps, eyes glued to the door.

"Look!" one shrieked as he passed. "It's Akihiko!"

"Where? Oh, there he is!" another shouted, and Minato turned to see the boxer standing by the door, fairly radiating exhaustion and exasperation. As he hurried down the steps, the ladies fell into place around him, stopping him from going any further. Horrified, Akihiko scratched his head and sighed.

"Have you noticed how popular Sanada is with the ladies?" a familiar voice suddenly chimed in from a spot by Minato's left ear. SEES' young leader whirled around, startled, to find Junpei grinning back at him. "Man, take a look at that!" The tall boy shrugged and laughed. "I didn't use to talk to him much, but now I've got a good excuse. I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but who would've thought he'd be such a chick magnet?"

The two juniors watched as Akihiko tried in vain to get past the ladies, only to be daunted by their screams. "I mean, come on!" Junpei exclaimed, eyeing the silver-haired young man jealously. "You don't even see girls flock like that on TV! I wonder where they're going?"

At last, Akihiko pushed past the girls and noticed Junpei and Minato. Relief flooded his face, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey," he said, shifting from foot to foot in an obvious show of edginess, "are you guys free this afternoon?"

Whistling under his breath, Junpei tipped his hat at the ladies and said, "Hell yeah! What do you have in mind?"

"I want the two of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall," Akihiko explained, looking a bit startled by the young man's enthusiasm. "You know where it is, right? I'll be at the police station. See you the—"

"Th-the police station?" Junpei cut in, disappointment and embarrassment colouring his features. "You mean, we're not hangin' out with your friends?"

Akihiko looked around at the googly-eyed students hanging onto his arms and grimaced. "Who, these girls?" he asked, discreetly shaking a particularly invasive one off of him. "I don't even know their names. They talk so much they give me a headache…" Without waiting for a response from either his fan club or his new friends, the boxer set off towards the gate. "Anyway, I'm going to head out," he called over his shoulder. "Don't keep me waiting."

The ladies stared after him helplessly. "Aww," one sighed, wiping her eyes. "Why can't he be more friendly?"

Her friend hit her lightly in the arm and reminded her, "But that's what makes him so cool!"

The troop nodded to themselves and hurried off in the direction that Akihiko had gone. Junpei watched them go, bewildered. "Man," he said, turning to Minato in disbelief, "how can he not know their names? I mean, seriously! Just look at them!" He threw up his arms in exasperation. "Oh, well. Let's go."

Minato was still a little shaky as to where everything was, so he let Junpei lead the way to the mall; in twenty minutes, they were standing outside of the police station. Through the window, they could see an officer stationed behind his desk, chatting quietly with Akihiko.

"Thank you, Sir," the boxer was saying as the two juniors came in. He didn't turn to greet them, but waved one hand in their direction and said to the man behind the counter, "These are the guys I was talking about earlier." He didn't get a response, so Akihiko turned to the Persona-users, frowning. "I was waiting for you guys," he said, pointedly. "This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad well equipped. And," he fished in his vest pockets and pulled out ten thousand yen, "this is from Ikutsuki…"

"R-really?" Junpei said, accepting half. "Sweet!"

Akihiko nodded. "You can't fight empty-handed, so find something you like," he said, jerking his head at the rows of cabinets stacked along the walls. "Officer Kurosawa has connections, but these things still cost money."

"Of course they do," Kurosawa cut in, stern and sudden enough to make Junpei jump a little. "Nothing in life is free."

Akihiko offered him a tired smile. "I realise that," he said, and turned towards the exit. "Well, I'll see you later. Thanks again."

The door shut behind him, and Kurosawa planted his hands flat on the desk, leaning towards the two boys in front of him. "I've been informed about you," he said stiffly. "My job is to maintain peace in this city, regardless of the circumstances. I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know something strange is going on here." He eyed Junpei, who looked rather afraid of him. "I'm only doing what I think is right."

With that, he led the two boys into the back room. They resurfaced a few moments later, Minato clutching a tiny penknife—the one Yukari had given him not quite two weeks before had been split cleanly in half—and Junpei empty-handed and grumbling.

"Only five thousand yen," he muttered to himself, scowling. "I'm going to take off, since I'm in a bad mood now. Later."

The blue-haired boy nodded and silently held up a hand in a farewell salute, watching as his friend vanished through the nearest exit. He set off for home after grabbing a cup of coffee at Chagall Café, bracing himself for all the homework that was waiting for him.

He had nearly memorised the key mathematical formulas he needed for the test the following day by the by the time he wrenched the front door of the dorm open and hobbled inside, yawning. Mitsuru met him halfway to the couch, one hand extended to stop him from going up to his room. On the sofa behind her, Akihiko was curled up with his boxing gloves in hand, polishing away and looking half asleep. The Chairman sat quietly in the nearby armchair, smiling, his arms folded across his chest.

"Welcome back," Mitsuru said, forcing Minato's attention back to her. "Perfect timing—I'd like to speak to you for a moment. Regarding our exploration of Tartarus, Akihiko is still on the mend, so for now, I'd like you to lead the team."

Minato stared at her in disbelief. She saw this and smiled.

"You never know when a powerful enemy might appear," she explained, waving his unvoiced questions away, "like the one you faced the other day. It's best to be prepared; otherwise you might find yourself in a difficult situation. So, whenever you'd like to explore Tartarus," _Never,_ he thought, immediately, "just let me know, and I'll gather everyone here."

He nodded dumbly, and she lowered her arm. "Well, that's it," she said, backing up towards the couch. Once she was settled down with her book, she glanced up at him, still standing there motionless, and added, awkwardly, "Keep up the good work."

Surprised and flattered, Minato wandered over to the couch and plunked down beside Akihiko, who looked up from his gloves. "Officer Kurosawa doesn't have the potential to enter the Dark Hour," he said, out of the blue. "He's just an ordinary policeman. But he knows about us and helps out when he can."

"How did you meet him?" the junior asked.

To his surprise, a pink tint spread across Akihiko's high cheekbones, and he quickly averted his gaze back to his lap. "He helped me out a while ago." There was a pause, and then: "He's someone you can count on."

The blue-haired boy nodded, not quite satisfied with the evasive answer. But he knew that he didn't know the boxer well enough to badger him, so Minato simply sat back and closed his eyes, running those formulas through his head. No sooner had he done this than the Chairman leaned across the coffee table to tap him smartly on the knee.

"You did very well for your first night in Tartarus," he said brightly.

Minato forced his eyes open and lied, effortlessly, "It was a piece of cake."

Ikutsuki beamed at him. "Why, that's absolutely remarkable!" he crowed. "Would you like to apply to become the next Chairman?"

Minato smiled weakly back, and staggered to his feet. He still had five word problems to work through, and he just couldn't remember the formula that he needed. Hoping against hope that he'd actually bothered to write it down between taking naps in that class, he moved towards the stairs. Mitsuru was up and catching him by the arm before he could get very far.

"I'm sorry to bother you like this, Arisato," she said, gravely, "but I felt this is something that you need to know."

He blinked at her.

"I believe we talked to you about this when you joined SEES, but those who are unable to experience the Dark Hour are transmogrified during that time," the redhead explained, not loosening her hold on the junior's sleeve. "They appear as coffins. Shadows are quite enigmatic—they only attack those who have not been transmogrified—and they feed on the minds of their victims, leaving them unable to speak. We call this Apathy Syndrome, and those who suffer from this incapacitating affliction are know as…"

For one long moment, she hesitated. Then Mitsuru released his arm, stepped back, and finished, "The Lost."

* * *

**April 22****nd****, 2009.**

Though Minato woke up exhausted, it wasn't because of Tartarus—after politely declining Mitsuru's request to return to the Shadow nest, Junpei (who had obviously been feeling better) had dragged him out to party at Paulownia Mall. They'd spent a small fortune at Game Panic before retreating to Mandragora so they could, quite literally, sing the night away.

When his alarm went off, the blue-haired boy jolted awake so violently he nearly fell off the bed. By the time that he'd washed and dressed, a searing headache had made itself known in his temples, and Minato was rather glad the previous evening could only be recalled in bursts of static and fuzzy faces, pinpoints of white light and loud laughter.

He was slow to make his way downstairs; on the counter, he spotted a cooling cup of coffee and downed the lukewarm beverage in one gulp. His friends' stuff was gone, so it was clear that they'd packed up and left long before he had gotten up. He hoped that was because of Mitsuru's love for being really early and not his own lateness. A glance at the clock on the wall told him it veered towards the latter, and he wound up running all the way to school. A grinning brunet met him at the gate and stopped him short.

"Slow down, man!" Kenji exclaimed, good-naturedly. "The first bell hasn't rung yet."

Minato clapped a hand over his heart, bending over a little to catch his breath. "Yet," he repeated, hoisting his pack into a better position and straightening.

Kenji's smile faded into confusion after a moment as he surveyed the young man in front of him. "So, what's up?" he said. "You're all by yourself?" When the other junior raised a sceptical eyebrow at him, Kenji shrugged and explained, "Dude, I thought the rumour about you and Yukari was true."

Minato shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. "It is what it is," he lied, hoping that Kenji, with his apparent interest in Yukari, would get jealous and shove off. To his disappointment, the brunet seemed mildly intrigued by this.

"Oh, yeah?" he said, before he could stop himself. He quickly turned a knowing smirk into a blank look of disinterest. "Well, it's not like I care or anything."

_Good, _Minato thought, running a hand through his hair. _Good, keep "not caring". Now go away._

Unfortunately for him, Kenji's smile returned to his angular face. "You've sure had some bad luck since you transferred here," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. There was no response, and he frowned. "You know, all the weird stuff that's been happening—how everyone's been saying they're hearing strange voices." He pointed wryly at the MP3 player clutched in the blue-haired boy's fist and sighed, "Well, I guess since you're always listening to your headphones, you probably haven't heard anything."

The first bell began to sound at that moment, so Minato forced a smile and followed his eager companion inside.

― ¤ ―

After suffering through hopelessly long, boring classes, Minato nodded off at his desk as all the regular students filed obediently out the door. He awoke a few minutes later, acutely aware of the presence standing in front of him. He swallowed a sigh and cracked one eye open, preparing for the worst.

Kenji beamed down at him. Junpei stood a ways behind him, and Minato desperately tried to meet his eyes, make some sort of frantic, silent plea for help. The other boy was too distracted by a girl leaning out the window to notice, and the blue-haired boy slumped down in his seat, avoiding looking at Kenji's happy face.

"Hey, man, I'm going to get some ramen after school," he said. "You wanna come?"

Minato fished around in his bag, pulled out his MP3 player, and set his headphones into place. "Why are you asking me?" he said before he could stop himself, and barely hid a wince at how hostile it sounded.

Kenji rocked back on his heels, a light flush spreading across his cheeks. "Ah, no reason, really," he said hastily, scratching his head in embarrassment. "I just don't have anything to do later, and I thought we could finish our conversation from this morning." A pang of guilt at his recent unfriendliness struck Minato right in the gut, and he ducked his head as Kenji continued, "So, what do you say, man? Let's get some ramen and talk."

The blue-haired boy found himself nodding. "Okay," he mumbled, picking at the buttons on his school jacket. "Okay, sure."

Kenji showed him to a place in the Iwatodai strip mall—a cramped, overcrowded, and overheated restaurant called Hagakure. Some customers were tightly packed into booths, while others lingered by the door or sat on already occupied tables. Still more were hunched over at the bar, slurping noisily from bowls. The loud chatter from all sides was nearly drowned out by the clattering and sizzling coming from the kitchen, which wasn't more than a few big vats and a stove shoved in behind the counter. The lone cook worked tirelessly there for hours on end, while two incompetent waitresses lounged outside, smoking and gossiping.

Minato was shoved unceremoniously onto one of the few free barstools. Kenji almost suffocated him with the menu before perching precariously on his own seat and ordering a heaping bowl of noodles. The blue-haired boy quietly asked for a simple meal, and after the man behind the bar asked him three times to speak up, Kenji just ordered something for him. Both bowls arrived twenty minutes later, piled high and steaming.

The brunet dug into his without reservation, while Minato took it a bit more slowly. After a few moments, however, he was going at it nearly as quickly as the regulars.

"Whew!" Kenji exclaimed once he was done, pushing his bowl away with a sigh of satisfaction. "Now, that's what I'm talkin' about!" His companion looked up from his half-finished noodles warily, drawing a grin from the other boy. "Well, was I right, or was I right?" he demanded. "This ramen tastes great, doesn't it? I bet they put a special ingredient in it—something no other ramen shop uses." He stroked his clean-shaven chin in contemplation, staining it with grease. "It's probably some sort of secret spice."

Minato had no trouble at all seeing how Junpei and Kenji might get along. Muffling a chuckle with a mouthful of noodles, the young man shrugged and rubbed at his own face pointedly.

His new friend coloured in embarrassment and grabbed a napkin. "Oh, sorry. My bad." Giddy laughter escaped him, and he spun around on his barstool, grinning. "I get all geeked up when I eat here."

Minato swallowed the last of his ramen and pushed the bowl away from him as Kenji had done. "I agree with you."

The brunet gaped and pointed at the vats behind the counter. "Really? You do? I mean, you can appreciate the subtle yet distinct flavour of the soup?" He loosened his tie and touched his reddening cheeks. "Wow, you don't look like the type of guy I'd normally hang out with," he prodded Minato's perfectly ironed shirt and pants, "but I guess looks aren't everything, huh?"

To the blue-haired boy's surprise, he found himself smiling and loosening up—he'd expected a hang out session that would bore him to tears, but Kenji wasn't that bad after all, he supposed. "I guess so," he agreed quietly.

Obviously feeling uncomfortable at his admission, Kenji readjusted his tie for the third time in thirty seconds and cleared his throat. "Anyway, about Yukari!" Laughing, he waved at the cook to bring him another round. "_Damn_, boy, you move fast! I mean, you just transferred here. I can't blame you, though. A man's got to be aggressive nowadays."

Minato raised his eyebrows, and Kenji laughed again.

"Hey, let's hang out after school again sometime," he suggested as another bowl of ramen was slammed down on the counter in front of him. "We'll get some food and I'll tell you about my secret plan—wait 'til you hear it, dude. You're going to flip!"

Minato opened his mouth to agree when a bolt of icy cold buried itself deep in his chest. _Again?_ he thought, heart racing. _Another… another Social Link?_ He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kenji, who had stopped with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, and looked bewildered. The blue-haired boy realised that he was bent over the bar, hands clutching so hard at the smooth surface that his knuckles were turning white. He tried in vain to steady himself and swallow the nausea; when that had no effect, he cinched his arms around his middle and shut his eyes.

It was then that he saw the card, spinning so fast he could barely see it.

When it finally slowed to a stop, he found that it was different from the one he saw when he was with SEES—a pair of dark eyes, above two hands that conjured black fire, stared down at him from the card's blue surface.

_Thou shalt have our blessing, _a voice whispered in his head, the same as before, _when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana._

With that, it faded away, as did the card, whipped away as if by a sudden wind. His whole world flickered black and white as things slowly returned to focus. A few moments later, Minato realised his eyes were still squeezed shut, and he was lying flat on his back. He coughed and tried to stand, but two hands held him down, and he forced his eyelids up.

The cook, for once venturing out of the kitchen, was bent over him, looking horrified and confused. "Hey, kid," he said, shaking the junior by the shoulder. "You all right?"

Minato saw Kenji's white, worried face behind him, and tried to smile. He knew it came out strained and sickly from the way the brunet's face paled further. "I'm fine," he choked out, pushing the man's hands away and sitting upright. "It's, uh, it's okay."

"What happened, dude?" Kenji demanded as the cook relented and helped Minato up. "Did you have some sort of weird episode?"

The blue-haired boy laughed as the nausea and cold began to recede. "No, it's okay," he said. "Really. I guess eating all that ramen made me kind of sick."

Kenji frowned suspiciously as his friend swayed on his feet. Without thinking about it, he reached out to place a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. "If you say so," he muttered, shaking his head in confusion and glancing out the window. "Look, I'm going to go—it's real late and my ma's gonna kill me." He patted Minato awkwardly and stepped out into the evening. "Not to mention I missed my favourite TV show…"

The other young man laughed on a long exhale and joined Kenji in the cool night. Only then did he remember how stifling it was in Hagakure, and gratefully gulped in a few big breaths of fresh air. "I have homework," he said, simply.

"Okay," Kenji agreed, but didn't move, apparently at a loss for what to do. Eventually, he just ruffled Minato's hair and said, "You sure you're okay?"

The blue-haired boy batted his hand away. "I'm fine," he repeated. "Don't worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow."

Comforted, the brunet nodded again and began to back away down the path, towards the stairs that led to the street. "Yeah, I'll see you," he echoed, and with a last wave, disappeared underneath the orange railing.

Even though he was exhausted, Minato waited until Kenji was long gone before he turned in the direction of the dorm with a tired sigh.

* * *

**April 23****rd****, 2009.**

Minato nervously fingered the frayed edge of the flyer in his hand and eyed the door in front of him. A note tacked to it read, 'Kendo Team—recruiting new members! Fight like a samurai!'

All day, he'd been pondering whether or not to actually join. Now that the moment had finally come to decide, after he'd breezed through his classes half-asleep and preoccupied, he nodded to himself, promptly thought, _What the hell,_ and pushed the door open. A large gym opened up in front of him, with a selection of students in uniform sparring away with wooden swords in the centre.

Nervously, he sidled along the wall to where the coach was mobbed by a few bright-eyed freshmen. He waved them away, didn't bat an eyelash as they stalked sulkily back into the hall, and nodded at the approaching junior. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah." Minato's eyes wandered over to a pretty black-haired girl in a jumpsuit. She smiled at him, and he averted his eyes and got his mind back on track. "I'd like to join."

The coach scrutinised him slowly. "Good timing," he said, eventually, and turned away to call out to his team. Once they were paying attention, he turned back to Minato and said, "I've only got one spot left, and I was saving it for someone worthy. You look up to the task. Name?"

The blue-haired boy answered the older man's various questions as the rest of the kendo team gathered around. Once they had pulled off their protective masks and lowered their swords, the coach landed a heavy hand on Minato's shoulders and wheeled him around to face his new teammates. "This is Arisato Minato. He'll be joining our team," he said, and pointed into the crowd of students. "This is Yuko, our manager."

The black-haired girl stepped up and brushed some nonexistent lint from her jumpsuit smartly. "Hello, I'm Nishiwaki Yuko," she said. "Nice to meet you."

The coach took his hand off of the young man's shoulder and called out, "Hey! Kazushi!"

The boy that Minato had met a few days before—Kaz—removed his helmet at the cry and ducked his head, smiling slightly at the newcomer. "Yes, sir!"

"This is the future captain of this team," the coach said to the blue-haired young man, beaming proudly at his star pupil. "He's a great athlete and scores well in competitions. You two are in the same class, right? Kazushi, keep an eye on the new guy here, okay?"

"You got it," Kaz said, and turned to Minato. "Hey. I'm glad you decided to join!"

Yuko joined them, her curved lips pale in her tanned face. "You two know each other?"

"Nah," Kazushi exclaimed. "I gave him one of the flyers." He gave Minato a quick once over, and seemed to remember something. "Hey, you're the guy who went out with Takeba Yukari on the first day of school, right?"

Minato went a bit red. "Um, sort of."

Kaz smiled. "You're practically famous," he said, and Yuko nodded in agreement. "Well, anyway, I never properly introduced myself." He extended a hand. "I'm Miyamoto Kazushi, and long story short—from now on, you're mine after school. Just because you joined mid-season, don't think I'll go easy on you!"

Before Minato could respond, cold that was almost familiar clamped like a vice around his heart. He had endured it often enough to keep a hold of himself, though only just. Feigning nonchalance, he leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath as the force of the Social Link made his eyes slip shut. No sooner had his vision dissolved into darkness than a card appeared—

Once it had stopped spinning, he caught an image of a chariot, golden and red, before it was gone again, vanishing along with the voice that whispered those same old words—_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana._

"Hey, you okay?"

Minato wrenched his eyes open to find Yuko and Kaz peering at him in confusion and alarm. He scrunched his cheeks in a forced smile and pushed himself off the wall, swallowing the nausea. "I'm fine," he lied. "Just a little tired."

Yuko still looked suspicious, but let it go. "Well, okay," she assented, and adopted a professional stance. "Since today is your first practise, just have a look around and then call it a day. I'll make sure your uniform is ready for next time."

Minato smiled at her gratefully and allowed Kazushi to show him around the gym and the changing rooms. Once he had exhausted all the nooks and crannies of this unfamiliar place, the blue-haired boy decided to go back to the dorm.

The moment he got in the door, Junpei poked his head over the top of the couch and waved. "S'up, dude?" he crowed, grinning. "I hear you're friends with Kenji now. He said you're a pretty cool guy."

Minato smiled back. "Of course."

Junpei snorted, though his smile didn't fade. "Don't get too cocky, man," he warned, and went back to his magazine. Into its sleek pages, he said, "Yeah, I'm sure you two will get along just fine." Before SEES' current leader could question if that was a compliment or not, the boy on the sofa spoke up again. "By the way, let's go to Tartarus tonight. I hear the Lost are increasing, so we better kick some Shadow ass."

They hadn't gone back since the first excursion, so Minato deemed that fair enough. Before he scampered off to his room, he spotted Mitsuru nodding at him approvingly.

― ¤ ―

Once the moon overhead had taken on an eerie green glow and the whole world around them was populated only by coffins, SEES (this time, sans Akihiko) made their way over to what, in the light of day, was their school. Tartarus stood tall and terrifying, towering up endlessly into the night. Mitsuru, of course, led the way in, talking quietly to Minato all the while.

"As we explore Tartarus," she explained as they passed under the threshold, sweeping one arm out to encompass the mysterious green machine and the grand staircase, then the golden pillar and the blue door that she couldn't see, "this will be our temporary base of operations. I'm counting on you."

Minato nodded and beckoned Junpei and Yukari to follow him up the steps. They did so nervously, gripping their weapons tightly in both hands. Just before the trio ducked through the entryway and entered the labyrinth, Mitsuru's voice once again cut through the stillness.

"I found out something else about Tartarus," she said crisply. "A few floors up, there's a barricade preventing you from going any higher. The tower seems to have a number of these interspersed amongst its floors. I know I told you that the layout changes each day, but these barriers seem to be in fixed locations…" Her brow drew together. "I'd like you to try and reach the first barricade."

Yukari swallowed hard. Mitsuru noticed this and sent a glance that was almost comforting her way.

"Be careful," she said, and Minato nodded and led his friends inside.

The hallway beyond at first appeared empty. It stretched on endlessly into the darkness, unlike the first night that they'd been inside, when it had been a corridor that twisted and turned non-stop. No Shadows came forth, and the silence was so complete that Yukari jumped and gave a little shriek when Mitsuru's voice cut through hers and the other's minds a few minutes later.

_"Give me a moment," _she said,_ "and I'll check to see what's beyond this floor." _There was a pause, and then a telling gasp. Minato felt his stomach sinking to his knees. _"I detect a great source of power above you. It's still relatively far away, but keep your guard up nonetheless—watch out!"_

A Shadow had appeared as if from out of nowhere, bigger than the ones SEES had come across so far. It was a massive grey lion, shackled at the ankles by chains and dragging a great iron ball behind it. It roared when it saw the intruders, and impatiently pawed the air, snarling and baring its teeth.

Yukari's grip on her bow loosened. "Oh, God," she whispered, her eyes fixed on the Shadow. "It's—"

Junpei shot her a worried look. "Come on, Yuka!" he shouted, brandishing his sword and grinning at her in a way he hoped was reassuring. She didn't even look at him. "We can handle this, it's just a Shadow! Come on—"

Anything else he had to say was drowned out by the scream of Minato's Evoker.

* * *

**April 30****th****, 2009.**

Tartarus left Minato tired and sickly for the rest of the week. Despite this, he forced himself to school each morning, enduring Kenji (who endlessly insisted on keeping his plan a secret), exhausting kendo practises after school, a ridiculous assembly for the sake of the principal's ego—nobody could believe he'd ripped off Mitsuru's speech—and, lastly, Minato's acceptance into Student Council.

It was hardly something the blue-haired boy would usually consider, but Mitsuru had asked him specially, and he'd found he couldn't turn her down. He hadn't actually attended it yet, though—he planned on putting that off for as long as humanly possible.

Three days had passed since then, and Minato thought he had noticed Mitsuru giving him the evil eye when she thought he wasn't looking.

_Tomorrow's Friday, _he thought to himself as he shut the dorm's front door behind him. _I think there's a meeting. Might as well go and get her off my back…_

No sooner had he waved a greeting to his friends than his cell phone began to buzz impatiently in his pocket. He fished it out and flipped it open, guessing that it was Kenji. Maybe the brunet had finally decided to tell him what his (no doubt idiotic) "secret plan" was.

It wasn't Kenji.

The mysterious caller offered no information, neither number nor name. Bewildered, Minato held the mobile to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello?" a woman's voice echoed. The junior felt as if he should know who it was, but no matter how hard he tried, no one came to mind. This was promptly remedied when she continued, "This is Elizabeth."

Minato held the phone away from his ear and stared at it. Did the Velvet Room even have a phone? Figuring that she probably had a really good reason to be calling him, the young man struggled to wedge it between his cheek and his shoulder as he deposited his school bag on the floor.

"Please come to the Velvet Room," she continued. "There is a matter we need to discuss. You may use the alternate entrance located in Paulownia Mall."

"In the ma—" he started, bewildered.

"All you must do is find the door," she told him, in a way that didn't invite questions. "I'll see you soon."

Minato heard a click, and then dial tone. He held his mobile at arm's length and chewed what she'd said over in his head. He had to go, that much was obvious.

"Dude?" he heard Junpei say. "What's up? Who was that? A girl, right?"

Minato shook his head to clear his thoughts and shoved his cell back into his pocket. "Uh," he said unhelpfully, and turned back to the entry, still open. "I've got to go."

"Have fun on your date, man!" Junpei called as the front door slammed.

_Date,_ Minato thought as he jogged for the station as fast as his legs would take him. _Date with who? Elizabeth?_

The idea was both hilarious and a little frightening, and he tried not to dwell on it as he took the fastest train over to Port Island. Once there, it was a bit of a trek over to Paulownia Mall, but he made it there in record time. He didn't want to disappoint Elizabeth and Igor—the thought of what they might do to him was scary enough to have him running all the way there.

The mall was packed for a Thursday afternoon; an old man was curled up on a bench by the fountain. Next to him, a chubby student sat and stared at the tiled floor despondently. Others milled around, popping in and out of shops; two housewives dressed in aprons chatted by the exit.

"Where is it?" he muttered under his breath, racking his brains for any hint that Elizabeth might've given him, one that he missed.

_All you must do is find the door._

He'd been in most, if not all, of the stores in Paulownia Mall, so that was pretty much out. The nightclub, Escapade, was one of the few places he hadn't ventured into yet, but it wouldn't open until late, so that was out of the question.

At a loss, Minato wandered through the building, using the pretence of window-shopping should Officer Kurosawa suddenly decide to venture out from behind his desk and arrest him for shoplifting. He wound up standing before an open entryway that led to a shady alleyway. Figuring it was worth a try, he disappeared into it when he thought nobody was looking.

At first, Minato saw nothing. With a sigh, he slouched against the brick wall and massaged his temples, desperately trying to think of other places the door might be. Surely it wouldn't be in the Police Station itself?

Before he could look into that idea further, he became aware of a low hum emanating from the back of the alley. He jerked his head up out of his hands and stared as a blue door slowly materialised amidst the red brick. Once the last traces of burgundy had vanished from the golden doorknob, Minato blindly dug in his pocket for the key and propelled himself forwards.

The door opened before he'd even laid a hand on it.

― ¤ ―

"Ah, there you are," said Igor once Minato was aware of where he was. The blue-haired boy found that he was already seated in the high-backed chair that, he began to notice, was shaped rather like the harp that his Orpheus wielded. A little unnerved, he tried his best to smile at the long-nosed old man. It came out strained, but that only made Igor's smile widen. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Minato nodded. "You wanted to see me?" he asked, nervously.

"Yes, yes," the elderly gentleman simpered, straightening the cuffs of his black sleeves absently. He exchanged a brief, knowing glance with Elizabeth before turning back to his guest and steepling his fingers. "I suppose it's time for me to explain what I really do here."

Minato's brow furrowed, but he caught Elizabeth's eyes before he went to speak, and decided better of it.

"It is my job," Igor said, leaning forwards, "to create new Personas." He drank in the junior's surprised reaction, his old face creasing in a satisfied, eerie smile. "But in order to do so, I must fuse your Persona cards together."

This brought Minato back to the very moment in Tartarus a week before when he had defeated the lion-shaped Shadow that had so terrified Yukari. Orpheus had brought it down in one fell swoop, and afterward, a card, like that of a Social Link, had appeared in his mind's eye—on it had been a beautiful faery. He'd seen it for a fleeting moment, not more than the blink of an eye, before the card vanished; at the time, he'd assumed it was some sort of trick done by the deceased Shadow. Later, however, when Junpei had gotten injured and Yukari was too weak to help him, Minato had, somehow, been able to bring forth that beautiful creature, all dark hair and pale wings and one sneaking, ivory smile, to heal him. A name had been revealed, as well—Pixie.

_"You, my boy," _Igor had said when they first met, _"are able to possess multiple Personas, and summon them as needed."_

Minato felt a shiver run through him at the thought. It was terrifying and wonderful and altogether too much.

"In other words," Igor continued at long last, his grin widening as his guest's true power finally began to sink in, "I shall merge them into a single Persona; furthermore, the stronger a Social Link, the stronger your Persona." He clapped his hands loudly; in the silence of the Velvet Room, the noise was nearly deafening, and Minato gripped the edge of his seat hard to keep from jumping. "So, as you accumulate cards, please bring them to me."

Shakily, the blue-haired boy went to stand. The thought of discovering new Personas in Tartarus' murky depths made him want to return to the Shadow nest as soon as possible—there had to be more he could find, that he could tame and call his own.

No sooner had he gotten to his feet than Elizabeth stretched one long, thin arm out towards him. Even though he was looking resolutely at his feet, he could feel her golden gaze washing over him, analysing his every movement. "I shall look forward to your next visit," she said, deprecatingly.

Minato swallowed hard, a trifle unnerved, then nodded and backed up towards the exit. Igor and Elizabeth's eyes followed him until he had his hand at the knob. At that point, they both smiled, and the Velvet Room vanished.


End file.
